Africa-Press – Angola. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Group of Women Parliamentarians called on Thursday, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, for the need to strengthen policies for women’s economic empowerment, gender equality and sustainable development through financial inclusion.
The appeal is part of the group’s report presented by Angolan MP Luisa Damião during the 57th Plenary Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF), in which the parliamentarians highlighted the challenges faced by women in the region and called for urgent advocacy for the promotion of gender-sensitive laws and policies to increase women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion in Southern Africa.
The parliamentarians also point to legal and socio-cultural constraints that restrict women’s access to financial services, lower levels of financial literacy among women compared to men, limiting their ability to use financial services.
According to the MPs, policies and initiatives need to be created to promote gender equality,capacity and skills need to be developed and enhanced to support women parliamentarians’ advocacy and their global influence in promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality.
At the same time, despite registering a significant growth rate, it recognizes that the African continent has not seen shared prosperity and improved living conditions for the majority of its population.
The MP Group regrets the fact that, despite the progress made in promoting financial inclusion and economic empowerment, women in Africa continue to face enormous socio-economic barriers that hinder their ability to contribute meaningfully to the development of their communities, their countries, the continent and the world.
The SADC parliamentarians also advocated the need for political and legal protection, capacity building of women entrepreneurs and the use of public procurement as an instrument for women’s development, as well as the promotion of business linkages in line with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, in order to ensure that trade is not dominated by large corporations.
The group encouraged SADC governments to be mindful of greater accountability of financial institutions in meeting the financial needs of women entrepreneurs.
Angola is participating in the 57th Plenary Session of the SADC-FP with a delegation led by the National Assembly Speaker, Carolina Cerqueira, and including the MPs Ruth Mendes, Teresa Neto, Luísa Damião, Pedro Sebastião and Diamantino Mussokola.
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