Dr. Rabiatu Ammah Koney, a member of the Board of Trustees for the Federation of Muslim Women's Associations in Ghana, (FOMWAG), has commended the youth wing of the Federation (Young FOMWAG) for significant strides made in conscientizing young Muslim women in Ghana. She said since the inception of the formation of Young FOMWAG, 25 years ago, it had played major roles in the lives of young Muslim women by conscientizing them about the Islamic faith, modesty, and secular matters, particularly pursuing education to the highest level. She also praised the wing for becoming a transitioning platform to the mother organisation, which is FOMWAG. Dr Koney made this observation in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the Opening Ceremony of the annual youth workshop of Young FOMWAG, to climax its 25th anniversary celebrations, in Accra. The five-day workshop, filled with religious, social and fun-packed activities, was aimed at instilling discipline and confidence in young Muslim girls, by e mpowering them through knowledge and information and above all attaining consciousness of Allah. It was on the theme: '25 Years of Empowering the Young Muslim Girl: Challenges and Prospects.' She noted that 'most of the girls from Young FOMWAG are into various professions, something that we started 25 years ago, and we did not know it would grow into something big like that. In fact, Young FOMWAG has conscientized many of our girls in the Zongo communities. Now they do not feel shy about holding their chests high as Muslims. It is also a platform where girls take an interest in joining FOMWAG.' Dr Koney commended both old and current executives of the youth wing for their dedication and commitment towards the organization over the past 25 years and urged them not to relent in their efforts but to work hard to make the next 25 years more successful. Hajia Hafsa Obeng, President, of Young FOMWAG, said 25 years ago, the initiative was mooted to have a group of young Muslim ladies under FOMWAG, which had come into being some few years earlier to serve as an umbrella organisation for all Muslim Women's Group in the Country. She said the aims of the formation of the wing were to mobilize young Muslim girls in the Greater Accra Region to form the youth wing of the Federation, help instil discipline and fear of Allah in them, foster closer relationships among young Muslim girls, create awareness among Muslim girls to take their rightful places in society and train them to take up the mantle of leadership of FOMWAG from the mothers in future. Hajia Obeng said, 'The wing has over the years organized a series of programmes for young Muslim girls across the country including seminars, skills training workshops, conferences, field and educational trips, and quiz competitions, among others.' 'Series of seminars and workshops have been organised over the years to educate and inform young girls on the true teachings of Islam, their status and role in Islam, and their civic rights and responsibilities. Armed with knowledge on contemporary issues such as HIV/AIDS, environmental degradation, sanitation, parent-child relationships, reproductive health, and career guidance, among others,' she said. The workshops she emphasized had helped promote discipline and unity, helped unite Muslim girls in the region and network with sisters in other regions and encouraged Muslim girls to pursue higher education. Through Young FOMWAG's initiatives, the President noted that most of such girls had grown to become respectable and reputable women in society, and also influenced other Muslim girls positively to attain higher laurels. She commended the founders, board of trustees, and former and current national and regional executives of FOMWAG for the advice, encouragement and support in all their endeavours and assured them that they would work hard in the coming years for the organization to continue to grow as expected. The 25th-anniversary celebration started with the launch, then an anniversary seminar, an educational trip to the Bonsu E cho Park, and then the workshop. Hajia Ummu Zakari, Chairperson, the Anniversary Planning Committee, said as the theme for the celebration suggested, the event presented an opportunity for a reflection on the impact, successes, and challenges of the Young FOMWAG. 'Thus, the 25th-anniversary celebration, will on one hand, serve as an avenue for the assessment of the activities of Young FOMWAG in society in the past decades and, on the other hand, create the fora for identifying the necessary measures that need to be taken in order to realize the sustainable development objectives of the wing.' She noted that the leadership of Young FOMWAG recognized that aside from raising morally upright women, there was a need to equip Muslim girls with the requisite technical skills to enable them to become industrious and independent women. As a result, in commemorating this anniversary, the young participants would be trained in various technical and vocational skills. Hajia Zakari commended the organization for the strides made over the years, saying this event was a culmination of an enormous collective effort of the leadership and membership of FOMWAG, organizations and many individuals who contributed in one form or another. Source: Ghana News Agency