Celebrating International Women’s Day

March 8, 2008 – Women from business, NGOs and government met on International Women’s Day under the auspices of the departments of trade and industry and arts and culture, to discuss empowerment of women and ways of fighting against poverty.

The meeting was held at the Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria, and was opened last night by South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Guest speakers including government representatives and community leaders addressed an audience of a few hundred women – and a few men – who later broke away into discussion groups, where they were able to make individual inputs.

Returning to South Africa from Canada as a divorced housewife with two young children, Danby realised the challenges she faced as a single woman trying to earn a living. “I could not open a bank account as I had no husband … as a single woman I couldn’t get a job because I was considered a risk. I had to learn to respect my abilities, respect myself and get other people to respect me.” Danby did different jobs including selling advertising space in telephone directories and typing, before becoming involved in arts and culture development projects. But she said she would always respect women who didn’t work formally: “You’re a powerhouse – not ‘just a housewife’,” she said.

BASA is a joint initiative of government and the business sector that encourages business to invest in the development of South Africa’s arts industry. BASA has had success with projects such as the FNB Dance Umbrella. Danby spoke of the investment companies such as Discovery Health, MTN and BHB Billiton had made in South African arts. “[These projects] are a fundamental part of building civil society and of building a shared future.”

Women are at the core of this shared future: “I know women are warriors … it’s true that the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world. We make our future!”

Community leader and businesswoman Agnes Qwabe told an inspirational story about a group of women who started a bakery and then a bank in the village of Mathabatha in Limpopo Province (See related story, Rural businesswoman inspires success in others.)

Fikile Dilika, chief director in the Department of Arts and Culture, spoke about the role that arts and culture can play in creating jobs and eradicating poverty. Introducing herself, Dilika said, “I grew up in a scientific environment, but decided to move away from the labs and the test-tubes. She said that arts and culture have potential to empower people who are unemployed, particularly women and the youth, though there were challenges including funding constraints. She called on everyone in the room “to adopt someone to develop” in the context within which they work, and assured those present that South Africa would meet the Millennium Development Goals of halving unemployment and poverty by 2014.

The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s Mandisa Mangqalaza speaks about the role of the department’s Work for Water project in empowering women

Mandisa Mangqalaza, general manager of the Working for Water (WfW) programme, explained ways in which this innovative programme had created both economic and personal empowerment opportunities. The WfW programme is run by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and focuses on clearing invasive plants to re-open water supplies that have been lost to these alien plants.

The programme employs people primarily to clear trees, but numerous additional jobs have sprung up in which people make use of the cleared wood. Entrepreneurial individuals have used the wood to create eco-coffins, indoor and outdoor furniture, garden furniture and other functional and decorative items. Mangqalaza is particularly proud of how the programme has introduced women into a traditionally male environment. “Women are capable of making a difference, of making a change,” she said.

United Nations Development Programme representative, Christine Musisi, provided a global perspective on the challenges facing women. She pointed out that of the 1,2 billion people living in absolute poverty, 70% of them are women, and that “the feminisation of poverty is a growing phenomenon”. But, she added, “The importance of gender equality in eradicating poverty is now recognised. … If development is not engendered, it is endangered.”

She said that while gender disparities persist in all areas of human development and women make up two-thirds of the world’s poorest people, there had been some advances. Rwanda had the most representative leadership in the world in terms of gender, she said, with 48% of parliamentary members being women. Globally, women’s representation in government had risen slowly. In 1945, only 3% of political leaders were women, while by 1985, this had increased to 12%. In 2006, the figure was about 16%

“Women’s leadership is not only a human right, but a necessity,” Musisi said.

Mothomang Diaho, head of the Dialogue Programme at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said she particularly enjoyed the day because “The focus was on achievement; it was more forward-looking as opposed to bemoaning the problems which we know face women. The futuristic, positive outlook was very inspiring.”

“We are going to carry this work through in our Dialogue Programme, particularly through the Malibongwe Dialogue Series, which focuses on empowering women,” said Diaho. “It is through empowering women that we can empower families, and ultimately communities.” The first Malibongwe Dialogue was held between four women who had been involved in the struggle against apartheid and an invited audience at the Foundation on May 30, 2007. Read more about this event here.  A booklet was subsequently produced, and is available in printed format from the Foundation.