National Women’s Economic Empowerment Forum Established
Date:
UN Women in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Skills, Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA) and Action Aid Ethiopia, have established the National Women’s Economic Empowerment Forum(NWEEF). The Forum was launched on 29th April 2022 in Adama town of the Oromia region.
In his keynote address, H.E Mr. Nigussu Tilahun, State Minister, Jobs and Employment Affairs in the Ministry of Labor and Skills highlighted the significance of economically empowering women as it is the foundation for enabling their socio-political involvement, which impacts the progress of their family, community and the country as a whole.
Ms. Anna Mutavati, UN Women Representative to Ethiopia (OIC) in her keynote speech emphasized on the power of institutionalizing, like establishing NWEEF to collectively address issues of women economic empowerment; “It is clear that collaboration and coordination have the potential to accelerate the pace of change in women’s economic empowerment, through sharing information and resources, tackling common challenges, and collectively advocating and lobbying for gender–responsive policy and resource allocation. The event is bringing together all of us as key stakeholders for joint dialogue, sharing information/lessons, and seeking solutions to the challenges of women in the economic sector.”
In her opening remarks, H.E Ms. Alemitu Omot, State Minster, Ministry of Women and Social Affairs underlined the Government’s effort to economically empower women and the achievements emphasizing on those who are reaching out to empower others. H.E Ms. Omot also highlighted the gap in addressing the challenges of women from the rural area and the need to empower women at all levels. She said that establishment of the forum is key to inclusively enable women to benefit from the economic sector.
The National Women’s Economic Empowerment Forum (NWEEF) will initiate a national platform that aspires to work in spurring and supporting the implementation of policy reforms to improve women’s access to economic empowerment by creating economic opportunities across the country. Hence, the launch of the National Women Economic Empowerment Forum was found to be pivotal in boosting the economic empowerment of Ethiopian women/female youths by addressing the basic coordination gap.