Cell C has announced that its 16th Take a Girl Child to Work Day will be held nationwide on 24 May.
The announcement was made, appropriately, on International Women’s Day (8 March).
Suzette van der Merwe, Cell C managing executive: corporate social investment: “The development and empowerment of young women is at the heart of Cell C’s corporate structure and corporate social investment initiatives.
“Annually, Take a Girl Child to Work Day sparks the debate on the role of socio-economic development and the promotion of gender equality. Gender equality is the process of allocating resources, programmes and decision-making fairly to both men and women and is achieved when both enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation, and their aspirations, needs and behaviours are equally valued and favoured.”
In 2015, the African Union reported that much still needs to be done in Africa to bring women into the epicentre of development. They declared 2010 to 2020 “African Women’s Decade” under the theme “Grassroots approach to gender equality and women’s empowerment”.
The vision of Africa 2063 is a continent with full gender parity, with women occupying the centre stage in all sectors relevant to the economy and it provides for 50% women representation in decision making by 2020. The successful implementation of this strategic framework will go a long way in breaking the economic and political glass ceiling that restricts women’s progress and integration into the economic mainstream.
Van der Merwe adds: “Last month President Cyril Ramaphosa made a call to all South Africans to play their part to make South Africa a great nation. Cell C is very proud of our 16-year legacy, pioneering the Take a Girl Child to Work Day campaign. This initiative has become a movement and we could not have achieved this without the invaluable support from our partners, government and corporate South Africa.
“Together we have opened the doors of learning beyond the classroom, encouraging girls to strive for excellence, face their fears and embrace ambition. As such we are valuable contributors towards the Africa Agenda 2063.”
Registration for the 2018 Cell C Take a Girl Child to Work Day opens on 15 March at www.cellcgirlchild.co.za.