29 June 2009
Brussels — Mozambique believes that women's emancipation is of key importance, but it must be handled in such a way that it empowers women, rather than simply making the statistics look good, said the country's First Lady, Maria da Luz Guebuza, in Brussels on Saturday.
She was speaking during the 20th annual meeting of the Swiss organisation, the Crans Montana Forum, on the subject "Are western values real? The increased role of women in leadership of world matters".
The Mozambican delegation, headed by Guebuza, argued that, despite the progress in women's emancipation (reflected in the significant number of women in government and in the Mozambican parliament), they have not yet reached the desired targets.
"We shall keep on struggling for women to be trained and be able to participate in decision making", she declared.
Guebuza said that Mozambique does not want to see women competing with men, but to have them work to develop the country. She said that to attain the desired targets, the government has been investing in education, particularly for girls. This was one of the most debated themes at the Crans Montana Forum.
In her quality as one of the guests, Nigerian first lady Hajiya Turai Yar'Adua said that throughout human history women have always been the generators of wealth, but were never listened to, and there have always been deep inequalities of treatment between men and women.
She noted that, up until now, women have been marginalized, and this is still a reality in many African countries, though there have been improvements in the last few years, particularly concerning representation in parliaments and in regional organizations.
Former Ivoirian minister Ginette-Ursule Yoman said she is not satisfied with the figures about the participation of women in leading government posts, and there is still a lot to be done in terms of women's emancipation.
"The number of women in leading posts has been growing, but we still do not have women leading strategic development institutions. We do not yet have any woman as director of the IMF, the World Bank, or the European Commission, among other important world institutions", she said.
She stressed that women's emancipation should not only regarded in terms of occupying leading posts, but in all areas of life.
"In my country, for instance, about 90 per cent of food production is guaranteed by women, but they do not have any encouragement from the government. Concerns about women's emancipation should not only be at the political level, but in the creation of better working conditions for women in other sectors of the economy", said Yoman.
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