The President of the Atlantic Federation of African Press Agencies (FAAPA), Mr Khalil Idrissi, has said that women deserved legitimate shots at leadership roles in the informal sector.
Idrissi made the call on Tuesday at the opening of a leadership enhancement seminar in Moroccan, capital of Rabat, for women from 20 African news agencies.
NAN reports that the five-day event aims at developing women’s soft skills, strengthening their knowledge and leadership abilities for the effective running of their organisations toward addressing the challenges facing the continent.
FAAPA is organising the seminar under theme: “Women’s Leadership: Needs and Strategies of African News Agencies”, at the African Centre for the Training of Journalists and hosted by the Moroccan News Agency (MAP).
The 21 participants, comprising journalists, editors and executive officers are from countries which include: Ghana, Namibia, Togo, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
He, however, said that to ensure that women were given leadership roles; they needed more support from their employers.
“African women play critical roles in building society, especially through family care and vibrant activities in the informal sector.
”African women are very strong and productive. This notwithstanding, their positions and contributions are limited at the leadership and decision making levels in the corporate sphere,“ he said.
He said it was to help bring a balance in the news agencies that FAAPA decided to adopt a module initiated by women in MAP.
According to Idrissi, under this module, the competencies of deserving women are upgraded through training and coaching to position them in leadership roles.
FAAPA president also said that a committee had been set up to mainstream the issues concerning women and their needs in the running of the Agency, noting the initiative was better than just allocating quota to them to fill a void.
He urged the participants to share their rich experiences and use the platform to create a sustainable platform, which FAAPA could engage to analyse and promote the advancement of women.
Also speaking, Madam Atika Zairi, a coach and strategist in personal branding, advised women to embrace opportunities to lead and not turn them down over fears of being unable to measure up to their responsibilities, adding that they should endeavor to learn along the journey to give in their best.
FAAPA, established in October 2014, is a professional platform to encourage the exchange of experiences and to promote cooperation among news agencies in all areas of common interest – information, training and multimedia products.
FAAPA also strategises to position news agencies to remain relevant with regard to the fast changing trends in multimedia technologies as well as championing professional ethnics.
