Recognising women as business leaders in Tanzania
The Graça Machel Trust Interim CEO Shungu was invited to be a guest speaker at the launch of CEO’s Forum in Tanzania hosted by our very own New Faces New Voices (NFNV), Emma Kawawa, the founding director of this exciting initiative which aims to increase the recognition and representation of women as business leaders.
The Tanzania Women CEO Round table (TWCR)’s mission is to provide a platform for executive leaders to network at peer-level. The forum which is the first to be held in Tanzania brought together women from different places with different criteria to learn, engage, share, interact and have fun. Its objectives were to enhance leadership potential through interactive learning designed to give skills, build a network where women with mutual trust collaborate to build and connect for up-scaling their business and growth. It also serves as an inspirational platform for businesswomen who own or lead organisations to engage and share their knowledge and experiences.
The key topics discussed were around Strategic Planning and Performance, Women and Health, Youth Development and Leadership and finally A Guide to Women’s decent work and Participation.
The Tanzania Women CEO Round table (TWCR)’s mission is to provide a platform for executive leaders to network at peer-level. The forum which is the first to be held in Tanzania brought together women from different places with different criteria to learn, engage, share, interact and have fun. Its objectives were to enhance leadership potential through interactive learning designed to give skills, build a network where women with mutual trust collaborate to build and connect for up-scaling their business and growth. It also serves as an inspirational platform for businesswomen who own or lead organisations to engage and share their knowledge and experiences.
Some of the topics discussed were around Strategic planning and Performance, Women and Health, Youth Development and Leadership and finally A guide to Women’s decent work and Participation.
Using Technology for Financial Inclusion of Women and Youth.
Dr. Shungu Gwarinda, Interim CEO, Graça Machel Trust, Lobna Helal, Deputy Governor Central Bank of Egypt, Mamadou Biteye, Vice-President, Social Impact Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, VISA, Inez Murray, CEO of Financial Alliance for Women and Alfonso Garcia Mora, Global Director of Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice from World Bank Group on a panel discussion that was moderated by Andreas Proksch, Director General, Sector and Global Programmes.
It was also an honour to see our Interim CEO, Dr. Shungu Gwarinda as she joined a panel discussing Decreasing the Gender Finance Gap: from Strong Promises to Real Impact. The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Policy Forum took place in Rwanda between the 11th to 14th September under the broader theme Using Technology for Financial Inclusion of Women and Youth.
The AFI Global Policy Forum was themed “Decreasing the Gender Finance Gap: from Strong Promises to Real Impact”, and the panel discussion focused on an exciting topic on opportunities and risks presented by modern technologies when applied to help engage with female clients. The biggest highlight that were identified pointed at practical examples of technology driven solutions that can help increase women’s financial inclusion.
Commenting on the social and cultural issues that affect women’s pace to adopt financial services, Dr. Shungu Gwarinda, said that creating networks of women could be one way to go about it.
“These networks can be movements for change. We have a specific network called New Faces New Voices, which is a network of women in finance,” she notes.
Also on the sidelines, Dr. Gwarinda saw as an opportunity to meet with the New Faces New Voices (NFNV) from Rwanda chapter, Dr Monique (Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda) and Dr Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula from NFNV Zambia for a catch up meeting.
“We think giving saving groups another shape could bridge the gender finance gap. We are currently digitising them and linking them to financial services providers,” – Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the Deputy Governor at the Central bank.
The AFI Ambassadors initiative was launched at the Forum and were congratulated on their selection as the first group of AFI gender Ambassadors, in recognition of the hard work they are doing in advancing gender and financial inclusion.
Read more on our Women’s Economic and Social Advancement Programme
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.