Lilongwe, March 3, 2016: Malawi will on 8th March join the rest of countries in the world in commemorating the International Day of women.
Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati said during a press conference in Lilongwe that the day was set aside to celebrate the achievements and contributions women have made to the social economic development of the country.
This year, Kaliati said the event will be celebrated under the theme “commitment for action and for parity” at Lukalazi Secondary School in Nkhatabay.
She said, “everywhere in the world women are the driving engine for the social economic development. However their contributions are rarely noted by the society. The international women’s day therefore gives room for countries to seriously recognise their contributions while at the same time promote and protect the girl child.”
Apart from celebrating women’s contributions, the Minister said the day also provides a platform to lobby and advocate for their inclusion in decision making positions as well as fight for equality in various sectors.
“In Malawi, we have been faced with issues of rape, defilement and the saddest thing is that for many years’ women have been excluded in many areas such as education and employment. What we therefore want is that there should be equal opportunities and that women should be the centre focus for every programme governments are implementing” Kaliati explained.
As one way of bringing the gap between men and women, the minister said government will be initiating additional programmes on the already existing ones with the aim of empowering women.
“We will be putting in place strategies that will specifically target women. This will include areas such as education, health and agriculture among others,” she said.
On this day, Kaliati disclosed that Malawi as a country will also launch the gender policy which speaks highly about women.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Deputy Resident Representative, Dr. Rogaia Abdelrahim commended efforts being made by Malawi government in promoting women issues.
Dr Abdelrahim assured of her organisation’s support to the country to ensure that women continue to enjoy the same opportunities as men.
“We will continue providing support to the Malawi government so that the objective of improving the status of women through various programmes is achieved,” she said.
International day of women was first celebrated on 8th march in 1975 and ever since, countries all over the world have set aside this day to recognise contributions and achievements of women towards social economic development.
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