By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Mar 19, GNA - Words have the power to change lives, lift hearts in dark times and give hope to people in times of crisis, Mrs Patricia Dzifa Mensah-Larkai, Event Coordinator of World Speech Day (WSD) Accra, has said.
She said throughout generations, globally renowned personalities had made remarkable speeches, which had changed the world.
“Speeches delivered by people such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, were not just cooked to sound good to the ears but these were passionate messages that were calling for a positive change for humanity," Mrs Mensah-Larkai stated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, at a ceremony to mark the WSD Accra 2019.
This year’s WSD Global theme is “World Citizenship- It’s a State of Mind”, however, the local theme for Accra is "Inspiring Citizens to Scale-Up Performance".
The event was organised by Perissos Horizon in collaboration with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).
WSD is marked globally on 15th March to celebrate speech making and speeches from unexpected voices based on global and local theme to influence positive changes for a better world.
Mrs Mensah-Larkai urged Ghanaians to rise up to their responsibility as citizens and act as ambassadors of change.
She underscored the need for citizens to recognise the fact that there were lots of opportunities, and so the needed capacity would actually bring about a positive change.
She said great potentials existed in people, which must be harnessed for the nation's socioeconomic development.
Mrs Mensah-Larkai, who doubles as the First Female Distinguished Toastmaster in Ghana and Founder of Perissos Horizon, called on Corporate Ghana for support.
She said there were plans to have a week-long celebration and also target students to write essays for competitions that would bring solutions to the country’s problems.
Ms Christabel Odonkor, Client Service Executive at Insight Grey Advertising, who spoke on the topic “Harnessing Our Diversity and Strength for National Development”, noted that it was time to tap the richness of diversity among people, nurture it and make the best out of it.
She said Ghanaians were blessed to have a National Constitution (Article 17) which prohibits discrimination on several grounds, including gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, place of origin, religion, creed, political opinions, occupation, social status or economic status.
"We deepen diversity when we protect and defend the civil rights of all persons from discrimination and unfair treatment regardless of their political orientation or affiliation, or their religious persuasion or creed," Ms Odonkor said.
“We deepen adversity towards national development when we do not abuse our power or authority at the workplace; subject our subordinates at the office, church or mosque to bullying, sexual harassment or other forms of demeaning treatment or humiliation”, she added.
GNA
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