Ernest & Young (EY) Mozambique, in partnership with the pan-African network New Faces New Voices (NFNV) and the Graça Machel Trust, officially launched the second edition of the ‘Be Like a Woman’ programme on Wednesday (11).
The initiative aims to promote the inclusion and empowerment of women in the corporate environment, equipping them with essential tools to reach leadership and entrepreneurial positions, with a strong focus on gender issues.
This year, the programme aims to be more inclusive, involving disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities, women working in the informal and rural market, among others, with a total of 57 women from six provinces taking part.
‘We saw an increase in the number of participants, taking into account that in 2023 35 women were trained and for this edition, after receiving more than 450 applications, we managed to select 57 women to take part in the programme,’ said Paulo Reis, managing director of EY Mozambique.
Another highlight of this edition, according to Tânia Saranga, president of NFNV, is the topics that will be covered. ‘There is content that wasn’t covered in the first edition, but which deserves a lot of attention.
We’re going to talk about topics related to ethics and integrity, Artificial Intelligence and investments.’
This year, the programme aims to be more inclusive, involving disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities, women working in the informal and rural market, among others, with a total of 57 women from six provinces taking part
Saranga also said that this year’s programme has more mentors, professionals and national and international experts from different areas.
The event was also attended by Maria Letícia, a representative of UN Women, who said that despite progress, barriers for women in the labour market and in society still persist, which is why it is necessary to invest in programmes of this nature.
‘According to data evaluated by UN Women, women continue to have fewer opportunities in the labour market than men. In addition, they face many barriers not only to starting a business, but also to staying in this world due to the inequality that exists. But we know that change is possible, and initiatives like these are key to driving that transformation,’ she said.
For his part, biologist writer Mia Couto – godfather of this edition – sees women as the centre of the world and stressed the importance of greater inclusion. ‘Inclusion must be all-encompassing, in other words, we must go beyond the corporate world and include women who don’t speak Portuguese, as they make up the majority.’ Mia Couto recalled everyone’s role in ensuring inclusion: ‘the world changes with small things, and this programme can help with that change’.
Be Like a Woman 2024’ has also managed to include more participants from outside the capital. Even so, Paulo Reis still sees this as a challenge, since the organisation’s desire is to include women from all over the country.
Ana Mangana
