Women should engage in more productive activities: Mukapuli

LÜDERITZ, 27 Apr – The Mayor of Lüderitz, Hilaria Mukapuli says women conferences should be a platform or network used to influence and increase women participation in public procurement.
This was one of Mukapuli’s views during the 3rd Mayoral Women Empowerment Conference held at Lüderitz under the theme ‘Our Women our Treasure’ on Thursday.
She said platforms like these should celebrate women, rather than women delaying each other’s success.
“We should be known as women that pull each other up and not women that pull each other down as men nowadays call us,” said Mukapuli.
She continued: “Let us shift the gender empowerment discourse from abstract to practical and ensure that the existing frameworks for women’s economic empowerment do in fact give women a voice and choice in economic matters.”
Mukapuli said that women now live in a time where their roles are no longer confined to the kitchen, behind pots, doing laundry and other house chores.
“We are in a new generation and as women we need to face challenges and grab opportunities as we can do it. I am not saying we should push men, brothers and husbands out, but we must be next to them and show them we can do it as women.”
Mukapuli showed concern about the huge gap pertaining to laws and policies around women-related matters, saying it is imperative for people in power to recognise the strategic and multi-dimensional role of women in society, and to start treating women as equal as all humankind.
The mayor urged fellow women to be empowered in order to penetrate sectors that have been identified as growth sectors, such as tourism, construction and maritime affairs. She said this is where women have the least participation, and this can be achieved if women get the required support, training and mentoring on platforms such as conferences.
Other speakers at the event were Charity Nkalamo, a registered nurse at the Lüderitz State Hospital, who spoke on health matters, Erica Mulondo on financial liberty, Bridget Dundee on women understanding their worth and Linnea Shaetonhodi, a business owner and optometrist, on the opportunities and challenges for businesswomen.
The conference was attended by over 150 women. The annual event is a platform designed to provide space for the exchange of experience, common challenges and successful strategies from the female perspective, through the provision of advice and guidance to fellow women.
(NAMPA)