THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governments must pay special attention to women’s issues and carry out poverty eradication endeavours, said People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s Women Children and Youth Affairs Minister Zenebu Tadesse Woldetsadik.
She appreciated the efforts of the Kerala government to utilise the potential of women for family prosperity.
She was speaking after inaugurating the two-day international conference on ‘Poverty Eradication, Women Empowerment and Local Self Governance’ organised by Kudumbashree Mission here on Thursday.
“Nations across the globe are aware of sustainable growth that can be achieved when men and women work together. Women empowerment has taken centre stage in the agenda of governments and Ethiopia is no exception,” she said.
The Ethiopian government is about to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kudumbashree Mission to emulate its methodologies of economic empowerment for women.
Social Justice Minister M K Muneer, who chaired the programme, said the joint efforts of Kudumbashree members and the local governments in the state have resulted in remarkable achievements in the economic and social development spheres.
He emphasised the need to have a number of legislative measures to attain women empowerment.
“There is need for a legislation for protection of women’s dignity; the rights of widows have to be protected with the rights of illegitimate children,” he said.
“Rights of children born from inter-caste, inter-religious marriages in the Special Marriage Act and marital property rights require legislation. Once these legislations and a plan of action for implementation are put in place, Kudumbashree can become the most pivotal movement in Kerala,” Muneer said. Kerala State Planning Board vice-chairman K M Chandrasekhar also spoke. Kudumbashree Mission executive director K B Valsalakumari welcomed the gathering. The day had technical sessions handled by invited experts.