The emancipation of women, he added, amounted to mere words on paper unless it was matched by commitment from all sectors of society.
“As we prepare for the reconstruction of our economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, we have said that we cannot simply return to where we were before the outbreak of the virus. We must build a fundamentally different economy which, among other things, substantially improves the material position of women.
“This means that our investment in infrastructure must support not only the development of local industry, but also women-owned businesses. It must deliberately create employment opportunities for women in all stages of planning, financing, building and maintaining infrastructure.
“By the same measures, as we scale up our public employment programmes, we must ensure that young women in particular are identified as participants. In addition to an income, these programmes will provide them with an opportunity to acquire some of the skills and experience necessary to enter the mainstream economy.”
TimesLIVE
How we plan to make women more financially independent: Ramaphosa
Image: 123RF/Alistair Cotton
President Cyril Ramaphosa says that government is scaling up its support for women to enable them to become financially independent, making them less likely to becoming victims of abuse.
Writing in his newsletter on Monday, he said while progress had been made to improve the lives of women in the country, they still faced discrimination, harassment, violence and poverty.
“This month we begin the implementation of the National Strategic Plan to combat gender-based violence and femicide. A key aspect of the plan is on ensuring greater women’s financial inclusion. This is because economic inequality and social inequality are interconnected. The economic status of women in South Africa makes them more vulnerable to abuse,” he wrote.
Women fighting against GBV through art and film
Outlining four steps towards that goal, he wrote:
‘Women’s Day cannot be drenched in tears’: Ramaphosa
The emancipation of women, he added, amounted to mere words on paper unless it was matched by commitment from all sectors of society.
“As we prepare for the reconstruction of our economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, we have said that we cannot simply return to where we were before the outbreak of the virus. We must build a fundamentally different economy which, among other things, substantially improves the material position of women.
“This means that our investment in infrastructure must support not only the development of local industry, but also women-owned businesses. It must deliberately create employment opportunities for women in all stages of planning, financing, building and maintaining infrastructure.
“By the same measures, as we scale up our public employment programmes, we must ensure that young women in particular are identified as participants. In addition to an income, these programmes will provide them with an opportunity to acquire some of the skills and experience necessary to enter the mainstream economy.”
TimesLIVE
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