Luanda — Women are the majority in the Angolan informal market, even though they now start to have the same levels of professional responsibility and competences as men.

According to the minister of Family and Promotion of Women, Genoveva Lino, besides the discrimination that they suffer in several social sectors, "the imbalance in terms of educational background causes many of them to resort to low-paid jobs".

The minister was speaking at a conference organised in the ambit of the celebrations of African Women's Day, to be marked on 31 July, at which she delivered a lecture with the theme "Women's work in the post-independence period".

The government official reminded that African women, particularly Angolans, still face serious difficulties to be successful in the labour market, reason why they choose the informal one.

In her opinion, this situation is caused by an imbalance in the division of tasks and responsibilities between the genders.

To her, the responsibility of, by herself, taking care of the sustenance and training of the children, forces women to work in the streets as hawkers and in markets, putting their lives and their children's health at risk.

The minister also pointed out other factors that have contributed to the existence of a high number of women in the informal sector, such as the lack of employment in urban areas and the strong exodus of people from rural areas to the city.

She assured that with the achievement of peace and the reconstruction process of infrastructures, efforts are being made to provide equal opportunities to all, in the education and employment sectors.

The conference was also attended by the ruling MPLA party's first provincial secretary for Luanda, Bento Bento, the provincial secretary of the ruling party's female wing (OMA), Eulália Rocha, Physicians Order chairman, Carlos Pinto de Sousa, among other guests.