Yewo Gondwe, MCLD’s Southern Africa Regional Coordinator attended the African Women’s Leadership Summit in Lilongwe held under the theme “Reclaiming Power: Feminist Leadership in a changing world.” The African Women Leadership Forum (AWLF) in partnership with ARETE brought together feminists and women leaders from Malawi, Lesotho, Zambia, Gambia, Tanzania, Eswatini, Cameroon, Botswana ,Kenya and Uganda to reimagine women leadership that is inclusive, unstoppable and abide by feminist principles.
The following were the key Takeaways;
- The platform reminded women to priotize healing, safety and collective self-care
- Women must work in solidarity and build true sisterhood that supports each other at all times. Intergenerational learning and mentorship must be embraced in order to build a stronger feminist movement.
- Organizing feminist’s movements must go beyond cities down to the grassroots, ensuring that no woman is left behind.
- Women leadership must go beyond tokenism: True progress means women must be actively involved in every sector; politics, business, and community; far beyond symbolic representation.
- Feminism is still facing backlash in the changing times including cultural stereotypes and micro aggressions, but determination and solidarity must prevail in order to back against these obstacles.
The message is clear: feminism in Africa is vibrant, intersectional, and unstoppable, powered by women who refuse to be sidelined.