A workshop focusing on the New Growth Path and women’s struggles in the Eastern Cape will be convened by the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT), working in partnership with Masimanyane and Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC). The workshop will be held at the Osner Hotel in East London on 30 and 31 August 2011.
On the whole, the workshop seeks to launch a robust and responsive programme for women’s economic development whilst reviving women’s struggles for economic and social development in the province. “The New Growth Path and the diagnostic analysis released by the national Department of Economic Development and National Planning Commission respectively provide a framework within which to start this work,” said the MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mcebisi Jonas. He added and insisted that the workshop will not be a once-off event, but will culminate in a process and a programme, driven by DEDEAT in collaboration with other government institutions, and implemented by Masimanyane and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and women’s organisations.
In detail, the workshop will aim to highlight the current plight of women, create a platform for women to partake in the economic development strategy, create a programme for women’s economic and social development and share information on current and impending programmes designed to support women’s economic empowerment.
Women’s economic empowerment remains elusive despite the extensive policy and programmatic framework put in place by government to address women’s exclusion from economic development initiatives. Over the past decade, women have become poorer and are less engaged in economic activities, resulting in their continued marginalisation in the country. Government’s New Growth Path is a platform for broadening the spaces that women occupy and moving them from the peripheral margins of economic programmes into sustainable economic development initiatives.
The details of the workshop are as follows:
Date: 30 to 31 August 2011
Venue: Osner Hotel, Beachfront, East London
Time: 08h30
Source: Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism
