ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Monday opened a high-level dialogue on gender equality and women's empowerment, calling for a continent-wide effort to address systemic barriers affecting African women's socio-economic participation.
The second Egumeni Dialogue on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, running until Wednesday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, brought together more than 250 participants, including African ministers of women and youth, heads of financial institutions and regulators, development partners, and women entrepreneurs under the theme "Building a Resilient Africa through Accelerated Women Financial and Economic Inclusion."
As part of its core objectives, the event aims to unlock 100 billion U.S. dollars in economic opportunities for at least 10 million African women and youth by the year 2030, it was noted.
"Women across our continent continue to face structural barriers to accessing finance, productive assets, markets, technology, land and business development support," Ghana's Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection Agnes Naa Momo Lartey said. She stressed that such challenges constrain their economic potential and limit their full participation in addressing Africa's challenges, as well as the continent's inclusive development.
Mozambique's Minister of Labor, Gender and Social Action Ivete Alane said that true women's empowerment requires guaranteed access to skills training, decent work, markets and social protection, as well as a meaningful role in decision-making.
"Africa's prosperity cannot be built while women remain on the margins of the economy. The Africa we want must also be built with women: with their leadership, their talent, and their economic power," Alane said.
As Africa seeks to accelerate women's socio-economic and leadership inclusion, Alane noted that Mozambique has chosen to place women's economic empowerment at the heart of the country's development agenda and zero poverty ambition.
The three-day high-level dialogue is envisaged to galvanize commitments from African countries, financial institutions, and international partners to reform discriminatory policies and scale investments, while also leveraging digital transformation and trade opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement. ■