The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), together with the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW), Deloitte and Touche, and the United Nations launched the Women on Board programme in Johannesburg this week.
The programme is designed to discover, train and deploy female management talent by fostering and strengthening the participation of women in boards. Speaking at the launch, the Director of Gender and Women Empowerment at the DTI Ms. Ntombi Shangase said a register of trained women will be compiled, where companies and other government departments can recruit women for directorships.
"For the DTI empowering women to participate fully in the country's economy across all the sectors is essential in order to build a stronger economy, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities," added Shangase. She emphasised a need for the private sector to partner with government in an effort to advance gender equality and empower women.
Deloitte and Touche Director Anthea Scholtz said the training will be conducted on various aspects of leadership including governance, ethics, risk management, internal audit, sustainability and integrated reporting. "We are taking a holistic development of existing and aspiring female directors in that all the trainees will have an unlimited year long access to the e-learning that Deloitte and Touche provides to their senior management," said Scholtz.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe (Departmental Spokesperson)
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
