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| News from IFC GEM and the World Bank Group Global Gender News Inspirational Quote This Month's Spotlight | | Call for Consultant CVs Events Links to Resources Read PDF version of this newsletter |
| Uganda's Minister of State for Investment Launches the GEM Gender and Growth Assessment, Holds Advocacy Workshops for Ugandan Women | |
| More than 120 Ugandan women and men attended the launch of the GEM Gender and Growth Assessment for Uganda in Kampala on May 18. The Assessment suggested that Uganda can grow faster by unleashing the economic power of women through speeding up the current process of removing barriers to business. read more >> | |
| Thabo Mbeki makes a Stand for South African Women at the launch of the South African Women Entrepreneurs Network | |
| The South African Women’s Entrepreneurs Network (SAWEN) was launched at an inaugural Annual General Meeting from 11th – 12th May in Johannesburg, South Africa. In his keynote address, President Thabo Mbeki reiterated the importance of gender equity in the fight against poverty, and invited SAWEN to attend the next Presidential Working Group on Women’s Empowerment. SAWEN is a national network that facilitates and monitors the socio-economic advancement of women entrepreneurs. It was set up over 3 years with technical assistance from the IFC’s Africa Project Development Facility (APDF). read more >> | |
| Zoe Dean-Smith, the Managing Director of Gone Rural Swaziland is this edition's GEM for her inspiring commitment to uplifting the rural women in Swaziland, increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS and enhancing local communities through her handcrafts business. Born and raised in Swaziland, Zoe is the public face behind Gone Rural, one of Swaziland's top three producers of handmade products and the country's most successful handcraft business. The organization provides rural women who would otherwise have few employment options with an income that greatly improves their quality of life and expands opportunities for their children. Today Gone Rural works with 772 rural women in 14 groups in the rural areas of Swaziland, and it employs 22 staff in at the workshop in Malkerns. The women create high-quality tableware, | |
| floor mats, baskets and clay pots that are exported to about 525 retail outlets worldwide. In 2004, Gone Rural won a World Bank Development Marketplace award of US$10,000 to facilitate HIV/AIDS workshops for their 772 women. Zoe has been the organization's tireless champion, advertising its work internationally and helping secure orders with companies such as the Conran UK stores in Paris and London. Zoe was one of the key speakers at the IFC workshop for Grassroots Business Organizations in Washington, DC in April 2005, where she met with senior World Bank officials, including the outgoing President James D. Wolfensohn to discuss her work and raise awareness about the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS in Swaziland. | |
| On 4th July, business leaders, international organizations and policy makers met in London as part of a long-term consultative process examining how the private sector can forge valuable partnerships with governments and civil society and mobilize resources to support the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa. During the meeting, delegates noted specifically that businesses should encourage the participation of women by committing to equal opportunities. Bending the arc is the official platform of the United Nations and NEPAD for addressing the leaders of the G8 on issues of African development. read more >> |
| Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South Africa's new deputy president, has risen to a higher political office than any other woman in the country's history.
By appointing her, President Thabo Mbeki has signaled that South Africa could have its first female president after the 2009 elections. Mbeki is on record as saying that he would not mind a woman succeeding him. read more >> |
| Earlier this year, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) was awarded £100k for efforts in the area of women's rights. The AWDF is an Africa-wide fundraising and grant-making initiative for African women. It is an Africa-wide philanthropic institution, founded by 3 African? Women, to promote social change through the funding of autonomous women's organizations. | |
| Since its inception, over $4m has been mobilized primarily from private philanthropic foundations like The Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York and Comic Relief (UK). These funds are awarded as grants to women's organizations undertaking innovative and creative development initiatives, as well as to strengthen their capacity to extend resources and support to disadvantaged women on a sustainable basis. read more >> | |
| 750 delegates converged in Cameroon on 18 – 19 April, to attend this conference organized by the African Development Bank. The forum provided a platform to formulate recommendations on networking for women business owners and how to provide effective support for the development of women’s | |
| entrepreneurship. This was also an opportunity for delegates to identify key strategic areas for co-operation and coordination among stakeholders, to raise awareness amongst stakeholders from around Africa and to challenge the existing mindset about “women and business” in both the public and private sectors. Send an e-mail for more information. | |
| On September 7th – 9th 2005, the International Finance Corporation’s Gender Entrepreneurship Markets will be celebrating and promoting women’s entrepreneurship in Africa at the International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana. We invite you to nominate innovative African women in business for awards, as well as to participate in the exhibition and conference at http://africa.gwiin.info. IFC GEM is delighted to sponsor and co-host the inaugural Pan African Women Invent & Innovate Awards Ceremony, Exhibition and Conference. This event is being organized by the Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network, supported by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (Ghana). |