A soon-to-be-revealed private venue will play host to the inaugural Leadership Recognition Awards Ceremony on December 1.
These awards are an effort to encourage and celebrate women who work tirelessly to ensure social and economic justice for women.
To be held under the theme, Championing Change – innovative solutions for an equitable Future, the awards are a collaborative initiative between women-led organisations, International Women’s Forum South Africa (IWFSA) and WDB Investment Holdings (WDBIH).
In a statement, the two formidable entities announced that they had joined forces to address the pressing issues of women’s economic and social justice in the country, said to be one of the world’s most unequal societies.
Between themselves, the two entities have a proven track record of driving change and advancing women in business and society.
Speaking to The Star ahead of the awards, CEO and director at WDB Investment Holdings, Faith Khanyile, indicated that they had taken it upon themselves to achieve social justice while also empowering other women leaders.
“Both these organisations have worked tirelessly in the past 30 years to advance women empowerment in South Africa and have developed an incredible track record and insight into some of the root causes of the continued disenfranchisement of women in spite of legislation that is in place,” Khanyile said.
Her sentiments are backed up by Oxfam South Africa, which recently reported that even though the country is celebrated for its progressive laws and policies to advance women’s rights, women are still disproportionately represented among the poor, the unemployed and the hungry.
Khanyile said the awards form part of the Catalytic Strategy, a project established in 2019 as a joint project aimed at identifying effective mechanisms for facilitating access to research and leveraging this information to shape South African policy.
“The goal is to influence debate and drive industry and policy change on critical issues related to women's economic justice... The joint partners are well alive to the deeply entrenched economic and social systems that perpetuate gender inequality,” she said.
Khanyile indicated that more than 30 years into the country’s democracy, women are still the most affected by economic and social injustices.
The adversely affected group of women are mostly from disadvantaged areas, rural regions with limited resources, black women facing discrimination, survivors of gender-based violence, and those in informal employment without legislative protection.
“The leaders of IWFSA and WDBIH believe that the country needs a new story, a new vision, and a resuscitation of transformation objectives. With women constituting 51% of the population, their under-representation in decision-making positions hampers true economic inclusion,” she said.
Khanyile has revealed that these two organisations are actively involved in advocacy for evidence-based legislation.
This, she said, was done through intensive research, review legislation, and collaboration with various stakeholders, including gender activists, legal experts and researchers. Their recent Gender Pay Gap study, a first outside the formal work environment, aims to contribute to the creation of gender-specific legislation.
“Research indicates that closing the gender gap could add trillions to the global economy. In South Africa, uplifting just 13% of women in the workplace to medium-skill roles could add billions to the GDP,” she said.
The Star