In honour of International Women’s Day, 2022, the EU Ambassador to Malawi, H.E. Rune Skinnebach invited 16 of Malawi’s power women to meet and network with the EU’s delegation to Malawi, and I was honored to be recognised among amazing and inspiring women.
Invited were:
- Right Hon Catherine Gotani Hara – Speaker of Parliament
- Hon Nancy Tembo – Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Hon Patricia Kaliati – Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare
- Ms Martha Chizuma – Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau
- Ms Grace Malera – Ombusdsman
- Ms Scander Louis – Malawi Human Rights Commission Chairperson
- Ms Barbara Banda – COMESA Federation of Women in Business Chairperson
- Ms Zandile Shaba – First Vice President of Bankers Association of Malawi
- Ms Felisa Kilembe Mitambo – Vice President of Malawi Law Society
- Ms Nancy Kamwendo – Chairperson of the Nurses and Midwives Council of Malawi
- Ms Nthanda Manduwi – Founder and Managing Director of Bien Corporation Africa and Ntha Foundation
- Ms Anna Msowoya-Keys – President and Founder of Maloto
- Ms Professor Address Malata – Vice Chancellor of the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)
- Ms Tumaini Malenga, Research and Policy Analyst at AFIDEP, 1st Malawian to join the African Young Leaders Programme of the EU
- Ms Estelle Wongani Nuka, Bestselling author and development coach
- Ms Sarai Chisala-Tempelhoff, National Director, Justice & Gender Unit
The guest List from EU side included:
- H.E. Rune Skinnebach, EU Ambassador
- H.E. Seamus O’Grady, Irish Ambassador
- H.E. Ralph Timmermann, German Ambassador
- Ms Aurelie Valtat, EU Head of Political, Press and Information
- Mr Ivo Hoefkens, EU Head of Cooperation
- Ms Juliette Rubenstein, EU Gender Programme Manager
It was a wonderful night of networking and conversation – talking about development in Malawi, women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship, politics, and how we can better programme initiatives to be inclusive of women.