Women Empowerment Is Smart Economics – Mozambican Prime Minister Opens Conference On Gender Equality in Maputo

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Women Empowerment Is Smart Economics – Mozambican Prime Minister Opens Conference On Gender Equality in Maputo

6:19 CAT | 09 Dec 2015

Lusa / Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário

Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário declared on Monday that Mozambique’s experiences show that credit programmes aimed specifically at women can make a significant contribution towards improving living conditions, since it is highly likely that the money will be used to benefit the entire household.

Rosário was speaking at the opening session of an international conference in Maputo on gender equality and the empowerment of women which is discussing, among other issues, the dynamics, prospects and challenges facing small and medium companies run by women, in terms of sustainability, job creation and access to credit.

The Prime Minister stressed that access to credit was crucial for women’s empowerment, and was therefore a demand raised permanently by activists for women’s rights.

“This conference”, Rosário said, “will contribute to consolidating the multi-faceted bases for the development of women, particularly their participation in employment and self-employment, so as to achieve equal opportunities in all social spheres”.

He noted that women are 51.7 per cent of the population, and play a preponderant role in the Mozambican economy, particularly in the rural areas. Women’s work in agricultural production and marketing, Rosário stressed, generates income which guarantees the stability and food security of their households.

Recognizing the role of women in society, the government always includes a gender component in its development policies and strategies, said Rosario, notably through actions to ensure the education and vocational training of girls.

These efforts, he added, are intended to provide women and girls with tools so that they can compete in the labour market on a footing of equality with men.

“One of the great challenges for the participation of women in the various areas of development is their training in the different areas of knowledge so that they may have the capacity to release innovative and entrepreneurial ideas, and gain access to an ever more demanding and competitive labor market”, said the Prime Minister.

He criticized the barriers that women face in access to bank credit, and even to micro-credit. He urged the commercial banks to structure their financial products to attend to the needs of women entrepreneurs, particularly those running micro, small and medium enterprises.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Maputo’s Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Ana Mondjana, told the conference that the university’s Gender Affairs Coordinating Centre is making every effort to ensure equality of opportunities between men and women, seeking to ensure women’s inclusive participation in all spheres of life.

She noted that women are discriminated against even in the government loans intended to develop the rural areas. Less than 15 per cent of the loans made by the District Development Fund (FDD) have gone to women.

Mondjana said the university wanted the gathering to discuss innovative solutions to access to credit, which would empower women economically and socially.

The University’s partner in this conference is Italian Cooperation, which is sponsoring it as part of its Programme to Support the Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women.

Source: AIM News