The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has entered into partnership with the Grow, Unite, Build Africa (GUBA) for the 2021 awards which is intended to celebrate the centenary of the demise and legacies of Yaa Asantewaa.

Yaa Asantewaa was the Asante Queen Mother of Ejisu and the last African woman to lead a major war against the British colonial powers in 1900.

The awards, according to GUBA, would be heralded with a cultural durbar at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on November 7, with the main awards ceremony slated for November 8, 2021, at the Accra International Conference Centre.

A letter from UNFPA to GUBA on the upcoming awards, said, “UNFPA recognises the importance and critical role of women in the development of any nation, and has, therefore, accepted to partner GUBA for the awards”.

The letter noted that the UNFPA, having reviewed the works of GUBA over the years, and realising the organisation’s focus on the resilience of women, promoting greater economic, social and cultural cooperation between Africa and the African diaspora, had been convinced that the collaboration would go a long way to inspire women to achieve more in their fields of endeavour.

“UNFPA delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled while the girl child is empowered”, the letter said.

Receiving the support, GUBA Enterprise’s President and CEO, Dentaa Amoateng MBE, lauded the partnership between GUBA and UNFPA and said the support would further increase the success of the awards this year.

“This partnership is a great motivation for us at GUBA because we find similar synergies and share similar aspirations in the works of the UNFPA. This support is a big deal for us at GUBA”, Dentaa noted.

2021 marks exactly 100 years of the death of Yaa Asantewaa, the last African woman to lead a major war against colonial powers in 1900, where she played the role of the Commander-in-Chief of the powerful Asante Empire.