Johnathan Paoli
THE Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) in partnership with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, and various government entities organised a Brics Business Breakfast and official launch of Women’s Month under the theme “Accelerating Socio- Economic Opportunities for Women Empowerment”.
The National Women’s Day is commemorated annually on 9 August in South Africa and was declared a National Day in 1994 as a tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on the same day in 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.
The day is also used to mark the historic achievements of women stalwarts such as Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Sophia Williams and Rahima Moosa in the struggle against oppression, subjugation and disenfranchisement; as well as the pursuit of women’s empowerment, advancement and the achievement of gender equality.
The focus of the launch programme centred around the acceleration of socio-economic programmes and activities that have been undertaken across the different sectors to fast track gender mainstreaming across these initiatives; the creation of more opportunities for women’s inclusion and empowerment; and the facilitation of women to either take up employment in these sectors or develop their own entrepreneurship or businesses.
Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu in her capacity as Acting Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities delivered a statement at the launch in Musgrave Hotel in Durban, KwaZulu Natal.
“Given that the Brics Summit is taking place in our National Women’s Month, it indeed becomes a most gratifying tribute to the women veterans. It becomes a most gratifying tribute to heroines in the struggles for women’s empowerment and advancement in our country, on the African continent and within the Brics nations themselves,” Zulu said.
“Women’s month is a time to highlight the plight of women and equally reflect on the strides that we have made as a country in the advancement of women’s socio-economic emancipation. To launch the 2023 women’s month in KwaZulu-Natal at a time when we are hosting various Brics women events is major boost not only for the women of the Province and the country but the whole of the Global South,” said Nomusa Dube-Ncube, Premier of KwaZulu-Natal.
One of the central elements discussed was opportunities for women that exist in the ocean’s economy, colloquially referred to as “Blue economy”, considering the several areas with existing value chains that the empowerment programmes for women, young women and women with disabilities (WYPD) can utilise for their socio-economic development.
In addition, included in discussions were initiatives within the agricultural sector, green economy, waste sector, manufacturing sector, technology and innovation sector, among others in the country.
INSIDE POLITICS
