By BRIAN HATYOKA
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ZAMBIANS should empower more women economically to alleviate poverty in the country, Liberian Gender and Development Deputy Minister Andrew Tehmel has said.
Mr Tehmel said individual households and the country at large would benefit largely if women were empowered economically.
He was speaking in an interview in Livingstone yesterday on the sidelines of the ongoing Child Helpline International (CHI) workshop on corporate governance.
“I am asking my brothers and sisters in Zambia to support women economic empowerment to alleviate poverty in the country.
When women are economically empowered, both the households and the nation will largely benefit,” Mr Tehmel said.
He said in an event that both a husband and his wife were working, there would be sustained income in the home to support children and the nation at large.
“If you have a married man and married woman who are both working, that can bring stable income for the family.
“Children, who come from a working couple are much better compared to families where only a man is working,” he said.
Mr Tehmel said the economic empowerment of women, empowered men as well.
He said the challenges facing women such as limited access to finance and lack of political participation were not only experienced in Liberia but across the African continent.
“My ministry in Liberia promotes women empowerment and economic advancement because we understand that women are limited in many areas.
“These are issues that we all need to deal with as Africans. For instance, rape is a major menace in the Liberian society and women are being marginalised,” Mr Tehmel said.
He said there was need for a collective approach to advance women economic empowerment and political participation.
Community Development, Mother and Child Health Minister Emerine Kabanshi officially opened the CHI workshop on corporate governance on Monday afternoon.
The main objective of the workshop is to provide the general guiding principles and tenets of good governance practices.