Today we celebrate International African Women’s Day: an occasion that is not only a time for celebration, but also for deep reflection and awareness.
African women, more than many others in the world, continue to face complex challenges related to gender equality, which remains a distant goal. Added to these difficulties are the structural fragilities of the continent, wars, underdevelopment, exploitation of resources and, in some countries, still unstable governance.
Yet African women have never given up.
Every day, they are at the forefront of change, committed to building peace, growing their communities and developing their countries. They are not victims, but protagonists of Africa’s future.
They do not ask for pity, but for solid and equal alliances, win-win partnerships with other countries around the world and, in our case, with Italian institutions, companies and associations to build bridges of cooperation and development between Africa and the UK.
The Mattei Plan for Africa must necessarily take female empowerment into account if it is to be a truly effective development plan.
Africa will never be able to grow without its women: they are the ones who support families, communities and entire economies. If African women stopped, Africa would stop with them.
This is why it is essential to invest in women, with women and for women, supporting their projects, their businesses and their leadership, in order to achieve the continent’s sustainable development goals together.