APA-Dakar (Senegal) The Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) is a crucial income generating tool that elected officials can use to empower women, according to Fatma El K’hiel the vice-president of the Network of Local Elected Women of Morocco (Refela in French).
“We have to guarantee a decent income which enable people to live in dignity and to assume our responsibilities as elected officials,” she said while participating in Thursday’s session dedicated to women and youth.
It was part of the sixth Global Social and Solidarity Forum underway in the senegalese capital Dakar.
El K’hiel believes that since mayors are on the frontline they can encourage their respective governments to facilitate global reflections and craft general strategies and public policies.
According to her, the mayors and other elected officials have an obligation to be “faithful to their voters, to their population” to prepare them for the kind of social cohesion conducive to a strong social and solidarity economy mechanism.
Fatma first recognises that the solidarity and social principle of microfinance can help women and youth develop and boost their income since many African “cooperatives are neither strong nor creditworthy with banks.”
If women have access to funds, they are able to develop and market local products which are “the major source of income and activities… income generators especially for women”.
Not only in Africa do women often suffer much from gender inequality that limits their successes in various sectors, particularly in economics and politics.
“For decades, women have listened to speeches, declarations of intent but have ended up organising themselves by their own means in their territories, in their families using what nature offers,” Fatma bemoans.
Considering women’s low political representation, she therefore encourages them to embark on politics if they are to win a place in decision-making platforms.
The Moroccan female official further hails the Senegalese Teranga (hospitality) which she believes corroborates the solidarity economy project between countries of the world.
As an example, she salutes what she calls the “friendly and brotherly” relations between Senegal and her country Morocco.
WN/as/APA