PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa on Wednesday urged African leaders to join hands in addressing gender disparity on the continent.
The Premier who was representing President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the ongoing YouLead 2021 Summit held at the Training Centre for Development Cooperation in Eastern and Southern Africa(MS-TCDC) said African leaders had a noble duty restoring gender parity, which he said was important in assessing change and progress.
“I appeal to both, public and private sectors and all other regional blocs to strengthen efforts of restoring and maintaining gender parity in Africa,” Mr Majaliwa urged Referring to the sixth-phase government’s efforts of expediting gender equality despite the emerging challenges, Mr Majaliwa appealed to African countries to strive in elevating women in the society.
The Premier equally called on the leaders to create more employment opportunities, saying the move would build a much stronger and united Africa.
“Youth’s role in any nation’s economy cannot be overemphasized and this shouldn’t be the responsibility of the government alone,” he insisted.
He however challenged the youth to exhibit professionalism and honesty to their countries, so as to become good ambassadors of peace and security on the continent. Mr Majaliwa appealed to them to shun instigators of chaos and violence who use the youth’s naivety in advancing their agenda.
In her virtual address, Rwanda First Lady Jeannette Kagame expressed concern with the high number of girls in Africa, who were dropping out of school due to a number of reasons, such as early marriages. Ms Kagame challenged African leaders to address the situation in creating a prosperous Africa.
“We must be conscious of education and support the girl child,” she appealed. Earlier on, the East African Community (EAC) Secretary General Peter Mathuki pointed out that the time was ripe to invest in women and the youth. Dr Mathuki also reserved praise for President Samia in her efforts of transforming youth and women in Tanzania.
“We’ve seen Tanzania’s commitment to this cause and this will really motivate us as the servants of the community,” noted the EAC Secretary-General. President Samia had once revealed that she had formed a team of experts, who were looking at the best modality for the country to attain gender equality during her tenure.
Ms Samia has been appointing women in different leadership positions, including those that have been dominated by men for many years.
The Summit will today develop a post-summit agenda, which will also be coupled with the unveiling of the Youth Hub Africa. Since 2017, YouLead Summit has been jointly convened annually by the EAC, MS TCDC and other partners in Arusha through their youth engagement initiatives-EAC Youth Ambassadors Platform and YouLead Africa.