A member of the notable Baëta family, she was one of eight children, though only Annie and her siblings Christian, Lily, and William lived to adulthood.

[5][6][7] Her parents wanted her to have an English education and she lived in the coastal town of Keta (then in British Togoland) with her maternal grandmother.

She approached the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Choir and transformed it into a drama group that put on the George F. Rool musical David the Shepherd Boy.

[8] Her elder brother Christian made inquiries to the University of London on her behalf and her mother secured loans for her.

Her male colleagues from the Gold Coast urged her to abandon her studies, thinking them too difficult for a woman.

She spearheaded a successful campaign in 1961 that raised substantial funds for a YWCA women's hostel.

She was asked to chair the Commission to Investigate the Assets of Senior Public Servants and Named Political Leaders in 1966.

During a meeting in Iran in 1967, the Commission was charged with preparing a document on the elimination of discrimination against women.

The Declaration was an important precursor to the legally binding 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

She learned that access to credit was a priority for her country's women and led Ghana's delegation to the conference.

She was the World Council of Churches' moderator for their Programme to Combat Racism from 1984 to 1991 and mobilised against South Africa's system of apartheid.

She helped plan the Fourth World Conference on Women as a member of the UN Secretary-General's advisory group that year.

In 1985 she served on a United Nations panel that conducted Public Hearings on the Activities of Transnational Corporations in South Africa and Namibia.

[1] The Justice Annie Jiagge Memorial Lectures were established by the Ministry of Women and Children in 2009.