BY GEORGINA KEKEA
A weeklong training on Leadership and Management has just concluded for women through the Waka Mere Commitment to Action.
The weeklong workshop was mainly on leadership.
Coordinator of the SICCI-IFC Gender Programme, Ruth Maetala said empowering and encouraging women to leadership and management roles in the workplace is one of the focus of this workshop.
She said women in leadership positions are more visible in the private sector than in the public sector.
She said this is attributed to the kind of projects and trainings that the private sector, through the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) had been involved in.
She said this kind of leadership trainings and project through Waka Mere has boosted the women’s confidence and networking skills and also open their eyes to what leadership is.
“Some of those that have attended the workshop said when they go back to their office on Monday, they have started cleaning up their office space and trying to set a standard whereby they can set an example and also raise the standard of being persons in leadership positions.”
She said the challenges faced by women in the workplace are also many. She said private businesses aim to make money and the issue of gender is still a sensitive one for some. She said despite that, employers are now starting to realise the importance of recognizing the needs of women and the space they need in order to excel in the workplace. She said the sort of trainings that the women had attended also contributed to the changes being witnessed now in the private sector.
Participants to the weeklong course were awarded Australian accredited qualification after their successful completion of the workshop.
Most of the participants commended the course on leadership saying it had opened up their mind on how they can practically carry out what they have learnt in the work place.
They say the training is practical based, thus very applicable and appropriate for them. The workshop brought together 20 women from 17 companies. These women were mainly Managers and senior staff in their respective companies.
The workshop concluded on Saturday, August 11.
