Next month it will be September. The highly publicised Women’s Month would have gone. South Africans of all stripes will be looking forward to the next flavour-of-the-month – Heritage Day (which preposterously has been turned into a National Braai Day).
With regard to Women’s Month, the sad part is that it has been turned into a month of platitudes that are of no practical significance. Customarily, high profile individuals and organisations pledge their commitment to addressing the plight of downtrodden women who still remain on the fringes of opportunities, singlehandedly heading households on meager incomes. Sadly, it ends just there.
But women empowerment should go beyond the Women’s Month. Organisations should follow the following steps to uplift women, most often unsung heros of their success:
- Times are hard, business is slow in general, but dedicate a portion of their revenue to charity. Donate money to a home of a single mother supporting children.
- Introduce a programme with a target of training a woman with a critical skill at least every six months.
- Include a woman in your board of directors. The skills she would gain could prove handy. More to the point, she might bring something different during meetings, a new perspective often taken for granted.
