The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
MORE than 300 professional women gathered for International Women’s Day celebrations in Harare on Friday, hosted by Old Mutual Women’s Network (OWN).
OWN is a grouping of Old Mutual Limited female staff members aimed at offering peer support and mentorship. This year’s International Women’s Day campaign theme is #EachforEqual (An equal world is an enabled world). TelOne managing director Mrs Chipo Mtasa, who was guest of honour, urged women to believe in themselves.
“As women we must always have a positive mindset and be persistent. How many times have you sat in a meeting and thought the contribution you had in your head was insignificant, only to hear a man say the exact same thing and people cheer him on?
“Then you start thinking, I should have contributed. We must never doubt ourselves. Tell yourself that I can do this. Refuse to accept the status quo,” she said.
Mrs Mtasa encouraged women to always be available to grab opportunities and volunteer to take up even unpaid leadership positions for the purposes of learning.
The TelOne chief is an accomplished chartered accountant, with a wealth of leadership experience in the corporate world.
Before joining TelOne, she was the chief executive officer of the Rainbow Tourism Group for eight years.
The event, which is held annually, is a platform for women to share their experiences and exchange notes on how to survive the corporate world. Women who attended the event were treated to some music from Tariro neGitare.
Although commemoration of the International Women’s Day dates back to as early as 1911, the United Nations officially recognised the day in 1975, to help nations worldwide eliminate discrimination against women. International Women’s Day also marks a call to action for intensifying efforts towards gender equality.
As Zimbabwe today joins the globe in celebrating the day, women have made a call for more to be done in empowering local women. Women make up about 52 percent of the country’s population, yet their participation in the economic and political public sphere is still low.
