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Ghana: Zoomlion Helps 25 Women to Break the Glass Ceiling
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Public Agenda (Accra)
18 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
Selorm Amevor
The Management of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, the leading waste management company in the country has gone a step further in bringing to reality the adage that "what a man can do, a woman can do and sometimes do it better".
The company in fulfilling this adage has upgraded the skills of 25 female workers to be able to drive heavy-duty trucks and earth moving equipment to compliment the efforts of their male counterparts.
According to Mrs. Florence Larbi, the General Manager of the company, it was the vision of the founder of the company, Mr. Joseph Siaw-Agyepong to provide equal opportunities for both males and females in employment, thus promoting affirmative action.
She said that since they took on board the implementation of the Sanitation module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), the company has endeavored to realize the vision of affirmative action by engaging the services of both men and women.
Elaborating on the programme she said that it was targeted at women in the lowest rank of the company; namely the cleaners who were trained in manual tricycle and then to motorized tricycle riding.
She said through the NYEP they selected 30 of the female riders with three from each of the ten regions of the country and were taken through six months of rigorous training in the operations of the heavy duty trucks and equipments.
The General Manager said this in Accra at the launch of the company's "Zoom Captains" concept aimed at training women to handle heavy duty trucks and equipments.
"Our experience has shown that, contrary to some public perceptions ,women posses the courage ,strength ,sense of purpose and tenacity to rub shoulders with their male counterparts in jobs which were traditionally perceived to be exclusive to men; like the operation of heavy duty trucks and earthmoving/construction equipment," she added.
According to the General Manager the training for the 25 women popularly called "the Zoom Captains" has enabled them to break the myth surrounding male dominance in the operation of heavy-duty machinery in the country. The women have also become role models for their peers and will earn better economic status in theirs homes.
She further called for the active collaboration and support of Civil Society Organizations, the various arms of government and private organizations to help expand the concept for more females across the country.
Speaking at the launch, the First Lady, Mrs. Theresa Kufuor said the innovation was another achievement in the quest for bringing women into the economic and technological limelight.
According to the First Lady this was an indication that Ghanaians are not left out in the global agitation to improve the living conditions of women worldwide.
"Gone are the days when women were proud home makers, producing children and taking care of them. The economic conditions have changed drastically and the urge to improve children's education and lives means that both partners in the home must earn an income in order to give their children and other relatives better living conditions," she said.
According to her women are currently expected to have careers and specialized skills to enable them fend for themselves and their dependants and also compete with their male counterparts in career and political opportunities.
Mrs. Kufuor said women who have no jobs and income sometimes live under deplorable conditions in our parts of the world and are not recognized by society even when they have good contributions to make.
She supported the view that poverty reduction will be further reduced if poverty reduction programmes are given gender dimensions and commended the company for the innovation; since it would help poverty reduction.
She appealed to all private companies and civil society groups to assist government to sustain the gains made in poverty reduction. The task is not only for government , there is a lot private companies can do if they focus on pro-poor strategies targeting poor women and offering them opportunities to earn higher incomes," she added.
The climax of the occasion was when all the 25 women were given the opportunity to display their skills by driving the heavy duty trucks after which they expressed appreciation to the company for the opportunity given them and hoped it would have a positive impact on both society and country.
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Present at the launch were the 2nd Lady, Hajia Ramatu Mahama, Ms. Ama Busia, a Member of the Council of State, Ministers of state, Members of Parliament and the Metropolitan Chief Executives of both Accra and Kumasi.
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