CDM dialogue confronts odds against women
Women from across the Capricorn district had a rare opportunity to voice out concerns on the economic effects of Covid-19 in order to break the morass of poverty and underdevelopment.
POLOKWANE – These were discussed at the Capricorn District Municipality’s (CDM) District Women’s Dialogue that was hosted outside the city last Thursday.
Held against the backdrop of Women’s Month, the dialogue gave them a platform to debate economic issues that affect their lives and strategise for CDM’s women empowerment programmes.
The dialogue featured women from varied backgrounds drawn from civil society, business and politics.
“During the debates, speaker after speaker agreed that poverty, patriarchy and gender-based violence are issues that should always be confronted in every women gathering, commemoration, conference, parliament or a dialogue of that nature. They also decried the economic hardships that were made worse by the devastation of Covid-19 which left the majority of women without jobs and income and staring poverty in the face,” said CDM media liaison officer Moffat Senyatsi in a media release.
Mayoral committee member Betty Kgare agreed with the sentiment that women are the biggest casualty of this pandemic. She outlined CDM’s milestones made in the past five years through partnerships to drive local economic development initiatives for the benefit of women, including entrepreneurship training for women cooperatives.
“The majority of the households that received food parcels from our district food bank were women-headed households,” she said as she added that economic empowerment of women is one of the pillars of the 2040 strategy to combat gender-based violence.
“Just as ending violence against women is a collective responsibility, so too is the economic empowerment of women,” she said.
At the end of the sitting, they adopted resolutions for the municipality to implement.
