Some 48 mentors and mentees will officially kick off this year’s Katuka Mentorship Programme in Windhoek tomorrow. Well-known human resource specialist Sabine Ruegg will conduct the three-day orientation programme. Sponsored by Bank Windhoek, the Katuka Mentorship Programme aims to empower and encourage entrepreneurs, business and professional women to succeed in their careers through mentorship by seasoned business and professional women. The late Lena Markus, former Businesswoman of the Year 2000 in the category of Corporate/Professional, founded the programme. In its twentieth year, the programme has produced significant results in the careers of the participating mentees. To date, 401 entrepreneurs and businesswomen have completed the programme. “The Katuka Mentorship Programme is a method of advancement, which provides support and training through relationship building. It is about matching a mentee and a mentor with a similar personal and professional interest in the process of support, sharing, and learning to help entrepreneurs and…

The Law Society of Namibia has called on the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and relevant stakeholders to combine efforts in the creation of a sexual offenders’ registry. The Director of the Law Society of Namibia, Retha Steinmann in a statement this week echoed this while condemning the ever-increasing wave of gender-based violence in the country. The Society has since urged government and stakeholders to look at finding alternative solutions, including the creation of a sexual offenders registry, the enforcement of stricter sentencing for those found guilty of committing gender-based violence, femicide or sexual violence, and other necessary measures. “Our women, our children and our men have been victimised and traumatised and dehumanised in what will remain a stain on our history as a nation,” Steinmann said. Steinmann encouraged victims of gender-based violence and sexual violence to be brave and come forward so that the law…

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and insurance company Leadway Vie Côte d’Ivoire announced a partnership to increase access to life insurance for women in Côte d’Ivoire and create jobs for women as insurance brokers in the country. Under the partnership, IFC will help Leadway Vie Côte d’Ivoire, a subsidiary of Leadway Assurance Limited Nigeria, develop an insurance strategy and products tailored to Ivoirian women. Currently, only 2 percent of women in Côte d’Ivoire have life insurance, leaving millions of women-headed families at potential risk. IFC will also work with Leadway Vie to increase the number of women they employ as insurance agents, creating jobs and also helping boost the uptake of insurance among women. According to the International Labor Organization, 20 percent of Ivorian households are women-headed. These women tend to be more vulnerable to physical and financial shocks and often have limited access to coping mechanisms.…

Mrs Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo has retained the First Lady title once again on the backdrop of the New Patriotic Party’s victory in the December 7 elections, and the beautiful investiture of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, her husband, as the Fifth President of the Fourth Republic. The 69-year old First Lady relentlessly stood by her husband, through thick and thin, till he ascended the highest seat of governance in 2017, for the first term, and in 2021 for the second term. Her contributions to the general wellbeing of humanity, particularly women and children, cannot go unnoticed. Over the past four years, Mrs Akufo-Addo has been married to a man whose heart beats for his nation. In a message titled: “Dear Ghana,” which she posted on her Facebook wall just before the 2020 General election, described the last four years as humbling. “I wake up every morning, adjusting to this charge…

The Minister for Social Action, Family and Woman Promotion, Faustina Alves, Wednesday in Luanda, called for greater participation for “ladies” in actions aimed at resolving conflicts in society. Speaking at the closing of a round table on women’s participation in peacekeeping and conflict resolution processes, the Government official stressed that the presence of women in this field is generally unknown so that they are not called to the negotiating tables. She recalled that the UN Security Council adopted in 2000 its historic resolution 1325 on Women and Security, where for the first time it referred to their distinct experiences and contributions in the context of peace and security, which allowed for some gender integration and visibility in the field of pacification. The official reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the participation of women in the prevention, development and implementation of national action plans. The meeting addressed, among others, issues related to…

Egypt’s cabinet has toughened a law banning female genital mutilation (FGM) – imposing jail terms of up to 20 years as part of efforts to stamp out the ancient practice. Nearly 90% of Egyptian women and girls aged between 15 and 49 have undergone FGM, according to a 2016 survey by the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the ritual is practised widely by both Muslims and Christians despite the 2008 ban. Amendments to the FGM law approved by the cabinet on Wednesday include hiking the maximum sentence from the current seven years and banning doctors and other medical staff involved in FGM from practising their profession for up to five years. Under the changes, prison terms of between five and 20 years will be recommended depending on who performed the surgery and whether it caused permanent damage or death, a government statement said. The person requesting FGM will also face…

Plans are underway by the National Productivity Centre (NPC) to develop specific programmes aimed at boosting the productivity of women in their various endeavours. The Director-General of the Centre, Dr Kashim Akor, who stated this in Lokoja, Kogi State, at the decoration of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi State as an ambassador by the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), explained that conversations that equip individuals and build the capacity of organizations with the requisite knowledge, tools and techniques for working smart and continuous improvement are of utmost interest to the NPC. He added that the Centre would collaborate with the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) to design cutting edge programmes that would target improving the productivity of women in their chosen fields of endeavour. “To this end, we shall continue our collaboration with the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) to design and implement cutting-edge programmes aimed…