Global economies have acknowledged women empowerment as key to the achievement of gender equality. Gender equality was identified as a human right and a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/). Gender equality implies that women, men, boys and girls of all classes and races participate as equals and have equal value. They enjoy equal access to resources, freedoms and opportunities to exercise control (https://esaro.unfpa.org/en/topics/gender-equality). Despite efforts made towards the implementation of initiatives that are aimed at progressing gender equality, progress has been slow because of various elements such as the slow uptake and institutionalisation of policies and laws that support the implementation of related objectives, as well as the promotion of institutions that promote gender equality.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Osephalaphala Women Empowerment Enterprise NPC (SWEE). An organisation that is committed to contributing towards empowerment of women by providing relevant information, transformational tools and resources that support existing initiatives, and advocating for a collaborative approach to the empowerment of women. SWEE is an arm of Osephalaphala (Pty) Ltd that oversees the implementation of corporate social responsibility programmes. 

Through the SWEE NPC, we are initiating Osephalaphala Conversations: Engendering Corporate Governance, an initiative where we provide a platform for and facilitate the discussion of the advancement of women including factors that negatively affect progress of efforts. We discuss how women can contribute towards efforts individually and as a collectively. Our aim is to ensure that all stakeholders, including women in disadvantaged communities are of empowered with the relevant information, tools and resources, and opportunities/initiatives available to support women empowerment.

An empowered woman, is one who knows her worth, is confident and understands her role in the broader socio economic development. She understands or is knowledgeable of issues that affect and hinder the progression of women, that she has the power to make a difference. She puts the interests of others before her own. However, she sets and maintains healthy boundaries to ensure that she is not compromised. She appreciates the uniqueness of other individual women, of their contribution, and that unity is an important ingredient for the advancement of women.

In the first series of the conversations, we introduce the concept of engendering corporate governance, the origin of the concept and our approach to promoting the concept. We will also discuss in detail the key concepts entailed i.e., gender equality and diversity, what they are and what they are not, as well as corporate governance. At the end of the session, there will be a question and answer slot where participants can ask questions for clarity or make contributions on how the forum can be enhanced to be more interactive and inclusive. This is a free monthly online event that will commence on 4^th May 2023 at 18h00.