AfricaPress-Tanzania: MEN have a critical role to play in ensuring that women strike a balance between their professional working life and that of managing families, United Bank for Africa Tanzania Limited’s Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Brendansia Kileo has said.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam during a panel discussion to mark International Women’s Day recently, Kileo said in maintaining a balance of social and working life the bank decided to have male colleagues air out their perception or opinions on the topic and share various initiatives to support women in attaining the desired balance.
“We have included men to be able to get the ideas they are thinking as partners to support women so that they can fulfil their dreams and responsibilities when they are at home and at work,” she said adding that the UBA Tanzania dialogue involving members of staff, was aimed at maintaining a normal work life balance.
“Within the society we see many women failing to fulfil their dreams or overwhelmed by work responsibilities, many men do not provide the necessary co-operation to ensure such dreams are realised,” Kileo added.
She further noted that UBA Bank Tanzania management chose the topic to encourage cooperation between the genders so that they can work together collaboratively to achieve their goals both at work and home by solving various challenges that arise in the course of their lives.
Speaking during the panel discussion, UBA Bank Tanzania’s Chief Finance Officer, Chomete Hussein said that in order to develop a work and home life balance, men need to be more cooperative by assisting their counterparts in their social roles without stereotyping the chores or roles for being for male or female.
“By assisting your partners with their roles, you make their responsibilities less a burden and ease their balance of work and family life,” Hussein said adding that men, as heads of families have the responsibility to ensure that their female partners achieve their goals and dreams in life.
Backing her peers, UBA Tanzania’s Chief Operations Officer, Flavia Kiyanga said a mother is a person who has many responsibilities to the family because in African traditions, the mother has to manage the house which includes children.
“However, times are changing and women are becoming more exposed and independent with time hence it’s high time for men to change their way of thinking because women are becoming independent, conscious and courageous instead of looking at them as a threat,” Kiyanga noting that they should be viewed as a source of support, growth and strength.
The dialogue was also joined by UBA Tanzania’s Head of the Public Sector, Mathias Ninga who said that men and women are both heads of the families so there is more of a balance if the two genders agree on equal responsibilities to the family.
“All family members must be patient in their daily lives due to challenges they face, so it is good to listen and consult to make sure they achieve their goals,” Ninga said while pointing out that even though a mother may not be financially contributing to the family, but she devotes valuable time, patience, creativity and experience to ensure things are running smoothly.
