CELEBRATING OUR PHENOMENAL WOMEN

MBABANE – The time has come for Eswatini to look back at all the phenomenal women who have worked so hard to bring about positive change in society.
These transformations may have been in academics, sports, business or general empowerment.

Today we take the opportunity to join the world in celebrating the unsung heroes who have made inroads where a few dared to enter.
It is a call for everyone to do things differently if we are to achieve transformative and better development outcomes for women, girls, men and boys in our society.

The above signature statement was made by the SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax on International Women’s Day.
Dr Lawrence Tax said this year’s theme recognised the role of innovation in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. She said the state of women participation in innovation and science globally and in the SADC region remained low. “Women and girls globally, including in our region, continue to be less engaged and under-represented in technology and innovation, and this creates a missed opportunity in terms of their influence and ideas in transforming our society,” said Dr Lawrence Tax.

Through a number of instruments, Lawrence Tax said SADC recognised gender equality and development as an essential part of regional integration. She said SADC continued to advocate for the full engagement of women and girls in issues relating to innovation and technology and for the gender-responsive approach to innovation.

This, she said, was in line with Article 14 of the Revised SADC Gender Protocol which called upon “State Parties to take special measures to increase the number of girls taking up Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects and Information Communication Technology at the primary, secondary, tertiary and higher levels.”

She said the approval of the SADC Charter on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET) in 2017 was a significant step in ensuring women and girls’ participation in science and technology.
Meanwhile, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner said women and girls were impatient for change, and it was easy to understand why.

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