Women are still victims of poverty and disparity, First Lady of Burkina Faso said here Thursday at the opening of the pre-summit ministerial roundtable of the Global Summit of Women.
The Summit, which is to kick off later Thursday, gathered over 900 businesswomen, professionals and government leaders from around the world to talk about women's development and other issues.
Hon. Chantal Compaore said despite the political determination of many governments to assist the economic condition of women, many difficulties still exist, especially to small private sector businesswomen.
In Burkina Faso, she said, poverty rate is high, about 51 percent, with a majority of population suffering being women.
The lack of fund, land and other resources are hindering the livelihood, let alone personal development, she said.
Women leaders, even though they just consist of one percentage of the management level, can still make a difference in the leadership, said Marlene Mungunda, Gender Equality Minister from Namibia, lauding the role of the First Lady of Burkina Faso in promoting the progress of African women, especially women in her own country.
It is very encouraging to see so many outstanding women leadersat the summit, she said.
Undoubtedly, women have become a driving force of the economy. But women still have limited access to land, credit and information, she said, adding that more solutions are needed to equip women with basic needs for development.
Elizabeth Thabethe, deputy minister of the Ministry of Trade and Industry from South Africa focused on women's health, which is vital for developing women's economic power.
Cervical cancer is a problem that victimizes solely women. Statistics released from the website of the Global Women Summit showed that every year in Europe alone, 50,000 women develop and 25,000 women die from cervical cancer. In Africa, where medical facilities are not so good, cervical cancer is a bigger problem.
Effective prevention programs could prevent almost every case, she said, calling on delegates from all the countries to solve the problem together.
Responding to her call, Irene Natividad, President of the GWS, asked all the participants of the summit to inform women in their respective countries of the disease and the prevention measures to increase the awareness.
Source:Xinhua
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