AU LEADERS HONOR ACCOMPLISHED AFRICAN WOMEN AT AWARDS BANQUET
Jun. 15 (GIN) – This year’s focus on accomplished women was not totally overlooked at the African Union Summit despite its preoccupation with the President of Sudan, migration, xenophobia and other pressing issues.
An awards banquet was hosted by the African Union/Diaspora African Forum at the five-star Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton City, Johannesburg on Friday.
The presentation categories were ‘The Living Legends Award’ in recognition of the elders who have paved the way and ‘The Women of Excellence Award’.
Recipients of the ‘The Living Legends Award’ were Nigerian business magnate Dorothy Anyiam-Osigwe; Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia and the first female Head of State on the continent; Joyce Banda, former President of the Republic of Malawi; Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, current AU Chairperson and Winnie Mandela, South African anti-apartheid heroine and wife of former President of South Africa, the late Nelson Mandela.
Recipients of ‘Women of Excellence Award’ were Saida Agrebi of Tunisia, Nardos Bekele-Thomas of Ethiopia, Dr. Arikana Chihombori of Zimbabwe, Graca Machel of Mozambique, Justice Victoria Okobi of Nigeria, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings of Ghana, Sama Salifu of Ghana and Dr. Julieti Tuakli of Ghana.
Speaking at the opening of the 2nd African Union High Level Panel on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E Tumusiime Rhoda Peace said more than 70 percent of women in Africa are victims of financial exclusion.
“African women face many barriers in accessing financial services, including the constraints of time and mobility, illiteracy, legal and cultural constraints and sexual discrimination,” she said.
AU Commissioner Dr. Dlamini- Zuma observed that African women continue to labor in the 21st century with outdated means such as the hoe, the machete, the pestle and mortar as well as the grinding stone.
She expressed the Commission’s vision that in 2015 and beyond, African women should have access to new technologies and work in a modernized and mechanized agricultural sector to enhance the commitment and vision of the African Union, namely, that the hand-held hoe should be relegated to agricultural museums!
Consequently, the AUC on June 14, 2015 will launch an advocacy campaign during the Summit by handing tillers symbolically to all 54 AU Member States translating the commitment of the countries to mechanize agriculture and reduce the physical suffering of African women.
Meanwhile, anti-apartheid fighter Winnie Madikizela-Mandela expressed gratitude for the award, saying “I was almost reduced to tears when I got this invitation, but my tears dried up during the brutal times of apartheid.”
Wife of former President Mandela, Graca Machel, said her award made her remember the women who suffered every day through abuse and rape. She dedicated her award to struggling women in rural areas, and the 32 million girls in Africa who did not have access to education.
“This is also for the Chibok girls who were simply targeted for seeking education. We have to do much more than celebrating, because we are privileged, and privilege comes with responsibility,” Machel said.
w/pix of former Pres. J. Banda and G. Machel
