President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the 2nd Women Economic Assembly (WECONA) which will showcase how the public and private sectors have implemented their commitments towards gender transformation in industry value chains.

The second WECONA will take place under the theme “Unlocking gender-responsive value chains for a resilient economy” on Wednesday and Thursday in Pretoria.

President Ramaphosa launched the inaugural WECONA in October 2021.

The establishment of the assembly arose from one of the pillars of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on Gender-based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), which advocates the economic empowerment of women as one of the main means to bring an end to GBVF in South Africa.

In a statement on Tuesday, The Presidency said the private sector, civil society and women’s organisations, businesswomen and government have partnered to form WECONA.

The assembly facilitates the participation of women-owned businesses in core areas of the economy through preferential procurement, among other initiatives.

“This second session of WECONA will showcase how the public and private sectors have implemented their commitments towards gender transformation in industry value chains.

“It will further promote the realisation of the objective that 40 per cent of public and private sector procurement be contracted with women-owned businesses,” the Presidency said.

Since its launch in October 2021, WECONA has sought to engage industry leaders to set gender transformation targets in each sector, implement existing commitments and establish game-changing interventions that will increase procurement from women owned businesses.

Source: South African Government News Agency