South Africa: Women Changing Africa Event
With the 100th celebration of International Women’s Day on March the 8th, Barnard College of Columbia University will be hosting the third annual Global Symposium in Johannesburg on 15th March. Barnard College is a liberal arts college for women in the United States and ‘Each year, [they focus] on a region of the world where women are paving new roads for their daughters, their communities and their countries’, says the President of the College, Debora L. Spar. The Symposium has previously been held in Beijing in ’09 and Dubai in ’10, and according to Spar, ‘South Africa… is a perfect place to gather and discuss how women are truly changing a continent.’
South Africa is certainly an apt location for this event as the status of women across the continent has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. Significantly more girls are continuing on to higher education, resulting in an increase in women entering the professional working world, succeeding in the management hierarchy, and starting up their own businesses. In a working world dominated by men, African women are slowly, but surely, catching up to their male counterparts.
The event being held by Barnard College is named Women Changing Africa, and its aim is to bring together African women from across the continent, those that have been recognised for their outstanding achievements and contributions to society. Those attending Women Changing Africa will include leaders in government, academia, media, and the arts. By bringing together all these successful women, this is a chance to really appreciate how the role of modern African women is now integral to shaping the political, economic and cultural landscape of Africa. This event will be made up of two panels named ‘Conversations on Leadership’ and ‘Voices of the Next Generation.’
The first panel, ‘Conversations on Leadership’, will take a retrospective look at the admirable successes that have already been achieved with regards to women’s role in changing Africa. The panel will draw attention to some of the most established and influential women leaders from across the continent. Some of the women attending include Governor Gill Marcus of the South African Reserve Bank and Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, former senior director of the World Bank, to name but two.
In comparison, ‘Voices of the Next Generation’ will be looking toward the future in order to highlight women who striving to provide an inspirational example to Africa’s young generation of women, so that they too can one day continue the enormous progress being achieved so far. Panellists for this discussion include Susan Mboya, founder and president of the Zawadi Africa Education Fund and general manager for Coca Cola, and Nomfanelo Magwentshu, formerly chief operations officer of the Local Organising Committee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Further regional gatherings throughout the year are taking place in order to supplement the annual global symposium and provide an opportunity for women to meet with each other and create a forum of discussion where they can share ideas and establish opportunities for themselves. These series of conferences will continue in the spring of 2012 with the fourth annual Barnard College Global Symposium to be held in India.
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