The International Women´s Day Conference by AFAWI is planned as an annual event and took first place on March 9th, 2020 on the occasion of the worldwide celebration of the International Women´s Day.

 

The first conference with the title  „Marketqueens – a success story of grassroots governance“ was hosted by AFAWI in Accra, Ghana.

 

The event in general follows the concept of telling the story of a group of women, whose voices are often unheard in the Ghanaian society. The goal is to highlight the amazing work they are doing, acknowledge their efforts and give them a platform to share their achievements and struggles on their own.

 

 Combined with high-class speakers from Ghana and all over the world and a diverse audience, we were not only able to speak about social grievances, but more important to encourage and empower each other.

 

 

This year we chose the so called "Marketqueens" as the targeted group, because the presence of women on the streets and on the markets in Ghana is overwhelming and very unique, compared to other parts of the world.  Women own thereby 46.4 % of the businesses in the country which is the highest rate in the world, according to Africa Facts Zone. Especially the Marketqueens created and organized together with their staff an impressive business structure on a grassroots level, which is an outstanding example for female progress.

 

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The AFAWI International Women’s Day Conference encourages cooperation, social relations, solidarity and interaction between women and also highly promotes intercultural exchange.

 

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Every conference closes with an evaluation of the gained findings, which are then being used by AFAWI to improve our work and follow up with targeted projects, to create an overall sustainable concept.