A PLATFORM FOR DELIBERATE ACTION
“For as long as women shoulder the greatest burden of poverty, for as long as they are more likely to be unemployed, for as long as they are paid less than their male counterparts, for as long as women confront these and other challenges, our vision of an equal and just society will remain elusive.”
- President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Sassda Market Intelligence Specialist Lesley Squires recently attended the second annual meeting of the Women’s Economic Assembly (WECONA). This follows the inaugural of WECONA that was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in October.
The forum now functions as a multi-stakeholder initiative to advance women’s economic empowerment and inclusion and emphasises the participation of women-owned enterprises in the entire value chain to foster sustainable economic development.
A YEAR OF ACTION
In the 12 months since its inception, WECONA has negotiated sector-specific preferential procurement targets, undertaken a review of representation in management structures and secured commitments from sectors that have fallen behind in meeting transformation targets.
As a result, the private sector, civil society, women’s organisations, businesswomen, government and Sassda have subsequently facilitated the participation of women-owned addition, ad-hoc training such as technical webinars achieved up to 35% female attendance.
TRANSFORMATION CONVERSATIONS
Commenting on the broader effects of the initiative, WECONA Co-Chairperson Namhla Mniki said, “Since the inaugural event last year, there have been transformational conversations with industry associations and representatives to establish procurement targets.
“This will ensure that female-owned businesses have increased levels of participation within those value chains and these dialogues have led to the implementation of game-changing initiatives in several sectors, including the financial industry and automotive sectors,” Mniki reports.
COLLABORATIVE SUCCESS
The second WECONA brought together the private sector, including businesswomen, government, and civil society to transform the economic landscape in South Africa.
WECONA Co-Chairperson Futhi Mtoba said this year’s assembly builds on last year’s launch, which gave them the wind in their sails to go out and meet with various sectors in mapping the economic landscape of the country.
“We found a willingness to partner with us to transform value chain ecosystems to ensure a more equitable share of business in this country goes to women. The second assembly allows us to present what has been achieved, and to bring in new voices and sectors to continue our goal of transforming the business landscape of this country,” Mtoba said.
This year’s assembly was held under the theme, ‘Unlocking gender-responsive value chains for a resilient economy’, with a focus on showcasing how the public and private sectors have implemented their commitment towards gender transformation in industry value chains.
The theme also alluded to South Africa’s economic recovery, which is at risk of becoming a futile exercise if women are deliberately excluded from participating in value chains in various sectors.
Commenting on the ongoing success of Sassda’s participation in the initiative Squires says, “We are excited to continue our participation in WECONA as part of Sassda’s mandate of representing and advancing our members’ interests at these key sector platforms”.