A three year investment into education and women empowerment by the trade union, National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU), is bearing fruits with more than 200 women shop-stewards and members graduating at the University of Western Cape in Cape Town this Wednesday, 16 September 2009.
In 2006, NEHAWU initiated and fully funded a programme to enrol its shop-stewards and members for a three year programme in economic development at the University of the Western Cape.
All members enrolled in the programme were women recruited from all nine provinces. The aim of the programme was to expand the pool of leaders within the union, increase leadership capacity and achieve gender equity at all levels of the union.
A total of 207 of these recruits have completed a higher certificate in economic development and will be part of about 1000 students from the faculty of management at the University of Western Cape that will be graduating.
The graduation ceremony will be addressed by the Minister of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya who spearheaded the launch of the project while she was the President of NEHAWU.
Mayende-Sibiya was the first woman president of a trade union in South Africa and remains dedicated to attaining gender equality targets in her current capacity as Minister of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities.
“Despite its limited resources, NEHAWU has set an example of what is achievable when there is dedication to skills development and gender transformation. What is needed is full commitment to women empowerment coupled with practical steps to build capacity and increase the number of women in decision-making positions,” said Minister Mayende-Sibiya.
In her address at the graduation ceremony, Minister Mayende-Sibiya is expected to highlight the inequalities that still exist between women and men and spell out the steps that are going to be taken by her department to address these gender disparities.
The media is invited to attend the graduation ceremony which takes place as follows:
Date: 16 September 2009
Time: 19h00
Venue: Great Hall, University of Western Cape
For more details contact:
Bizzah Mantantana
Cell: 082 455 2304
Sibani Mngadi
Cell: 082 772 0161
Issued by: The Presidency
15 September 2009
