Socioeconomic conference empowers women entrepreneurs
27 July 2016
The City of Johannesburg has forged partnerships with several non-governmental organisations and is spearheading a suite of programmes and initiatives to empower women and address their economic and social needs.
This is according to Member of the Mayoral Committee for Community Development Cllr Chris Vondo.
MMC Vondo was speaking on the second and final day of the inaugural International Socio-Economic Conference for Women in Johannesburg-Gauteng at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on Wednesday July 20.
The two-day conference was hosted by the City of Johannesburg in partnership with the national Department of Small Business Development and the Small Business Development Agency.
“Women are often the last in line to benefit from institutional support and economic opportunities and as the City of Johannesburg, we are working at addressing this,” MMC Vondo told the packed hall.
"Through independent organisations and community groups from all sectors of society, the City recognises that through continuously developing women, both socially and economically, we develop and improve our society as a whole.”
Carina van Zyl, Deputy Director for Women and the Elderly in the City’s Social Development Department, said the City’s women empowerment initiatives had over the past two years resulted in several women “moving up in the world”.
“As a department, we have established women empowerment sites in all the City’s regions [that] act as a vehicle driving the City's women empowerment policy and provide employment assistance, training and counselling services,” said Van Zyl.
She added that the department was acutely aware of the fact that though more young girls than boys passed matric, it was boys who were more likely to further their education.
“Many of these young girls are trapped in poverty. The department has over the past two years run the Young Women’s Programme, which takes 40 young girls per region and incubates them in training and work-readiness programmes to ultimately empower them to take a stand and control of their lives,” said van Zyl.
She said the programme had seen 196 young girls gaining permanent employment as a result of increased confidence and self-esteem.
“Our women empowerment projects are critical game-changers as they result in increased employment, which in turn increases self-reliance and independence,” Van Zyl said.
MMC for Development Planning Cllr Ros Greeff said the City’s commitment to gender equality was further demonstrated by its efforts to increase the market share of women-owned business in the City’s construction projects.
“There are numerous opportunities available that are ripe for the picking and that can result in women-owned businesses entering sectors that were traditionally male-dominated,” said Cllr Greeff.
In closing, Council Speaker Cllr Constance Bapela said several findings gathered from the panel discussions had been taken into consideration and would be used to augment the City’s offerings to empower women and women entrepreneurs.
“This conference has unleashed incredible talent, which we will now harness to complement other offerings and other women-owned enterprises,” she said.
Reginald Pholo, the City's Director of Trade and Investment, said through the conference the City had received increased buy-in from key stakeholders such as the Department of Small Business Development.
“We're levelling the playing fields to make access to markets so much easier," he said.
The next conference will take place in August 2017.