Women's Empowerment
As women’s empowerment remains both an opportunity and a social challenge in many societies, we recognise our responsibility to accelerate gender equity and equality throughout our supply chains. As a significant factor in the development of our communities and our business, we make concerted efforts to ensure that the women, and girls, in our communities are represented and free to realise their potentials.
Training
Our training programmes in Cameroon equip women with the skills and resources to find employment in the plantations and offices. In 2018, more than 450 women were recruited through these in Hevecam and we plan to increase this figure going forward. Further opportunities were created in the teaching of agriculture and livestock management, fishing, dyeing, soap making and cassava transformation. These workshops were supplemented by educational talks on income management, women’s contributions towards family life, and the need for men to acknowledge this progression. The teams often garner interest in these initiatives by offering complimentary stationery, bath kits and home appliances.
Community Engagement
Community forums provide large platforms to disseminate messages of empowerment. Various celebrations such as International Women’s Day, African Women’s Day and the International Day of Rural Women are enjoyed en-masse through talks, awards, performances and sports tournaments. Last year’s International Day of Rural Women saw 61 weddings officiated in a single day, presided over by the Lord Mayor of Niete Sub-division, Mengue Jean Jaures. These weddings legalized unions formed under unregistered common law, ensuring stronger protection of the married women’s rights. Going forward, this mass ceremony will be offered yearly, in addition to plans of formalising the birth certificates of unregistered children in collaboration with the district’s Social Affairs Department and the Court of Kribi.
Ambitions
In increasing the scale of our women’s recruitment drive, further training programmes will be implemented and childcare facilities will be developed, freeing many women of the barriers hampering their professional development. Elsewhere focus will be concentrated on campaigns fighting against violence and sexual abuse.