Parliament, Wednesday 20 June 2018 – There was warm appreciation for Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Mr Lechesa Tsenoli’s discussion on the role of women in the Fourth Industrial Revolution at the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Women in Leadership Dialogue.
It was an apt topic at the dialogue, themed: “Women at the centre of radical transformation”.
Mr Tsenoli reflected on the challenges and opportunities that the Fourth Industrial Revolution would bring to the world of work and observed that it had already been a catalyst to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. In particular, the Fourth Industrial Revolution had made an impact on the ninth Sustainable Development Goal that calls for investment in industry, innovation and infrastructure.
Mr Tsenoli shared the conclusions of a roundtable on the Fourth Industrial Revolution held at Parliament in May. The National Legislature had affirmed its centrality to ensuring that the vast majority of people benefited from the fast-growing technological innovation characteristic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In her presentation, Speaker of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature Ms Noxolo Kiviet, emphasised that there was an urgent need to harness women’s forte because “their collective strength in action is like a hard rock that cannot be broken.” According to Ms Kiviet, racism and gender inequality were two demons that women should do all they could to strangle.
The CWP Women in Leadership Dialogue is a sequel to a series of Gender Advocacy Workshops, which the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association has held – to provide opportunities for introspection about how far gender mainstreaming in the legislative sector of the African continent had progressed.
The dialogue will conclude on Wednesday when presentations are expected from the House of Traditional Leaders on role of traditional leadership in the economic empowerment of women and prevention of violence against women in the communities.
The CWP was founded in 1989 to increase the number of female elected representatives in Parliaments and legislatures of the Commonwealth and to ensure that women’s issues are brought to the fore in parliamentary debates and legislation. The CWP provides means of building the capacity of women elected to Parliament, enhancing gender awareness and ability of male and female parliamentarians to include a gender perspective in all aspects of their roles and ensuring Parliaments become gender-sensitive institutions.
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