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Leaving women out of the national development agenda is a disservice to future generations, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

    The empowerment of women, the President said, was the "surest way of rooting out poverty and guaranteeing the progress and prosperity of our continent and country."

     President Akufo-Addo said this at the launch of the HeForShe platform at the Independence Square in Accra.

      The HeForShe is a solidarity campaign for the advancement of women initiated by UN Women.

       The goal of the platform is to achieve equality by encouraging men and boys as agents of change and take action against negative inequalities faced by women and girls.

      The President said he was proud that Ghana had joined several other countries to launch the HeforShe Platform in support of creating a better world "where we extend the blanket of protection to all women and to ensure that their rights become the bedrock for equality and social justice."

      "It is important we recognise that gender equality, and for that matter women’s equality with men, is a pre-requisite for development," he said.

       As the AU Gender Champion and Co-chair of UN SDGs advocates, President Akufo-Addo pledged to work with all actors to ensure that gender equality becomes a reality in Ghana and across the Continent.

       "Today, I commit to giving full support to the three focus areas under the HeForShe Platform in Ghana."

        He called on all national players and decision-makers to support policies, which empower women and girls, adding; "I invite men and boys across all communities in our country to become agents of change and join this platform."

       "Inequality has an unbearable burden and cost on our economy, society and the development of our nation.

        "Today, I join the millions of people around the world who stand together to create a bold, visible force for gender equality and say I am a HeForShe,” the President declared.