An award ceremony to celebrate the graduation of participants of the Women Leadership Academy’s (WLA) programme was held, today, at the British High Commission in Floréal. The ceremony was jointly organised by the British High Commission and the Mauritius Institute of Directors (MIoD).
The Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah, the British High Commissioner to Mauritius, Ms Charlotte Pierre, the Chief Executive Officer of the MIoD, Mr Danny Balluck, and other personalities were present at the event.
In her address, Minister Koonjoo-Shah highlighted that we are all advocating for a better gender parity in social, economic and political fields in Mauritius, as is the case worldwide. The Mauritian Government, she stressed, adheres to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially with Goal 5 that aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
The Minister underscored that, over the last years, Government has sustained its actions towards promoting the participation of women in decision making with a view of attaining gender equality. She further reminded that Government remains committed to increasing women’s presence in decision-making and her Ministry is streamlining policies on this issue through its various gender plans. As such, a National Gender Policy 2022-2030 has been launched during the celebrations of the International Women’s Day 2022, she added.
In addition, Minister Koonjoo-Shah commended all the women leaders who participated in the WLA programme and expressed conviction that this opportunity will enable them to become better leaders and act as powerful agent of change wherever they are.
For her part, High Commissioner Pierre underlined that overcoming gender inequality and ensuring that women can participate fully and fairly in the economy is a core part of the United Kingdom (UK) Government’s mission. She pointed out that equal participation of women and men in labour markets could add over USD 25 trillion to global Gross Domestic Product by 2025.
The High Commissioner also stressed that any country can benefit from investment in women as employees, leaders, entrepreneurs and consumers. Ms Pierre also expressed the British High Commission’s satisfaction of supporting women entrepreneurs in Mauritius through its partnerships with organisations such as the MIoD that strive to empower women so as to enable them to unlock their full potential as decision-makers.
She added that gender equality is an important commitment of both the Mauritian and UK Governments and it makes sense, within the Mauritius-UK bilateral relationship, that both countries work together in this priority area.
Award ceremony and WLA’s programme
The event comprised a certificate award ceremony for 14 women leaders/entrepreneurs who have completed the WLA’s three-day programme, facilitated by Dale Carnegie Mauritius. This initiative was funded by the UK Government, through the British High Commission, as part of its International Programme Funding opportunities 2021-2022.
The objective of this programme was to provide women leaders with the skills and confidence to take up senior-level opportunities and decision-making roles in Mauritius.
It is recalled that the MIoD, through the Women Directors Forum, launched the WLA in collaboration with Dale Carnegie Mauritius. The British High Commission sponsored the WLA’s third cohort, which will create a pool of strong women leaders to address the gender gap issue at the C-Suite level. As at date, a total of 74 women have already attended the WLA’s programme.
