Gender equality remains a fundamental human right especially in least developed countries such as The Gambia. Women all over the globe continue to experience gender discrimination, cultural biases, and lack of access to equal opportunities especially in certain professional and political settings. Every year, women’s rights organizations, and supporters all over the world commemorate the INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY with much enthusiasm. It is a day set aside to celebrate the achievements of women in political, social, cultural, and economic domains. A day to reflect on progresses made as well as a call for change and action towards predominant challenges limiting women’s participation.
The Woman Boss joins the rest of the world every year in the Month of March during International Women’s Day, to celebrate the focal point in women’s right activism by implementing our Women and Girls in Leadership Series. Both activities are geared towards amplifying the rights of women. The Woman Boss has been hosting these since 2017.
The women in leadership series is meant to encourage women to discover the need to take new actions and have a clearer understanding of self, tools to lead and develop others and the confidence in their ability to positively impact their communities. The series lined a set of influential, pragmatic women speakers who spoke extensively on feminine health, policy making and implementation, entrepreneurship, promoting sisterhood, leadership, innovation, and skills to overcome fear to take smart risks. This is accompanied by practical sessions meant to encourage the next generation of women leaders to speak openly about their assets and challenges. The program equipped the participants with the tools and information required to make positive choices and refined decisions in their lives while boosting their self-esteem and promoting the use of their own potentials to be leaders in their lives and communities.
The girls in leadership series was inspired by the belief that leadership skills empowerment should start early and that working with young girls and their primary influencers creates a more sustainable impact. Hence, the mothers + daughters brunch gave young girls a comfortable platform to express themselves, talk about their challenges, assets, fears, and earn the opportunity to be heard and heeded. Young girls not only received access to leadership skills through the series, but also empowerment and inspiration from the power talks, our panel of thought leaders, and engagement within the audience. These girls formed deeper and more meaningful connections amongst themselves and their parents.
Moreover, the implementation of these series to honor this momentous day would have proved difficult without the support of key stakeholders who have confidence in the mission and vision of The Woman Boss. In this vein, we appreciate their dedication towards the cause of women. Finally, as we look forward to celebrating the international women’s day next year with more substance, we wish to reiterate that everyone can play a part in inspiring gender parity, therefore, all hands must continue to be on deck.
Marie Jeng, Program Manager, Woman BossThe girls in leadership series was inspired by the belief that leadership skills empowerment should start early and that working with young girls and their primary influencers creates a more sustainable impact.