South Africa has made huge leaps in empowering women, but we still have a way to go. Some people might not understand how vital it is that we empower women, but here are a few facts that you should keep in mind in order to convince you that female empowerment should be a top priority for countries, companies and individuals in South Africa:
Women create jobs
According to Forbes, women will create more than 50% of the 9.72 million new small-business jobs that are expected to be created by 2018. Women continue to create more opportunities and become successful entrepreneurs within the local economy. We need to empower entrepreneurial-minded women to move forward and create the companies and jobs that they envision.
Women are innovative
You don’t need to be a Yale or MIT graduate to come up with new solutions that can have a massive, lasting impact on communities. In Nigeria, a group of fourteen year old girls created a generator that runs on urine. One litre of urine is able to provide 6 hours of electricity. This is just one example of the type of innovation that come from young women in the African continent. Empowering these girls to continue to innovate will benefit thousands of people.
Many agricultural workers are women
Did you know that 80% of worldwide agricultural workers are women? These are the people who are doing the hard labour. Empowering them to be able to do their jobs safely (or even move up the supply chain and become buyers or exporters) can have a large impact on our country’s economy.
One of the big challenges women who are parents face through economic empowerment and equality is striving for a sense of work-life balance. Children thrive on our time and attention and these resources are increasingly in short supply when mothers are very busy at work or building a business or career. Being an effective parent on the run requires a shift in mind-set. Working mothers need to learn how to reframe time, to cheat time, to make the time they do spend with their children really work for the, and most importantly, to discover what it means to be truly present both on the work and home fronts to increase satisfaction levels in both areas.
If you would like to learn more about empowering the women in your business with a women’s day presentation of the acclaimed Parenting on the Run Workshop for your group or team, do contact Nikki Bush at info@nikkibush.com
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