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CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
By Valentine Nkoyo
FEMPOWERMENT event to celebrate International
Women’s Day (IWD) was held on 7th March at the
Nottingham’s Council House. This was in recognition
of the IWD which is held 8th March every year. On
this day, the social, economic, cultural and political
achievements of women are celebrated globally.
The day also marks a call to action for accelerating
gender parity.
Funded by The Nottingham City Council, the
event was hosted by Nottingham Equal and
organised by Mojatu Foundation, 11 Tech 18 and
the Women Cultures Exchange. The theme for this
Fempowerment event was “Be Bold For Change”. It
focused on recognising women while working to
reduce the economic gender gap and increasing the
representation of women in leadership positions by
empowering them at all levels of society.
Nottingham Equal is an umbrella organisation that
brings together the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)
voluntary and community sector, to give them a voice
within society, enabling them to influence policy.
The event was a huge success, with a variety of
inspirational and engaging speeches. Cllr Jackie Morris,
the Sherrif of Nottingham opened the event, speaking
about her work challenging domestic violence and in
working with community representatives to officially
declare Nottingham a Zero Tolerance Zone to FGM (the
first in the UK).
This was followed by the keynote speeches on the
journey of local phenomenon women including: Cllr
Merlita Bryan, the first black female Lord Mayor in
the City; Victoria Mponda, coordinator of Women’s
Cultural Exchange and Andrea Huresan, who runs an
information office to assist the Roma community.
The speakers shared passionately their journeys
of leaving their countries of origin, challenges
and successes without forgetting the warmth and
welcoming nature of the people of Nottingham. Later
in the day, there were talks about women in faith and
the importance of different faiths working together
by Rev Piety Kamuyu, a Church of England Minister,
and Somaiyeh Mohamed, who provided an Islamic
perspective. The final talk was given by Clare Dean on
behalf of Mel Bowden, a Detective Chief Inspector, who
addressed the importance of keeping our girls and
women safe. She also clarified the importance of the
role of the police in safeguarding and protecting girls
and women from harm and encouraged participants
to report crimes.
She also touched on work in the City around FGM
and Forced Marriage. The event also had stalls,
Zumba sessions, food from around the world and
an opportunity to network. The event welcomed
both men and women to celebrate the success and
contribution of women to our city.
The day was facilitated by Valentine Nkoyo, Director
Mojatu Foundation. In attendance, also to celebrate
with our local communities, present awards and vote
of thanks were Cllr Nicola Heaton, Cllr Eunice Campbell
and Cllr Toby Neal.
Angela Lewis, the chair of Nottingham Equal presided
the awards ceremony recognising the unsung heroines
who have made a contribution towards supporting
girls, women and communities at large. Those
nominated and awarded included:
• Kinsi Clarke from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
Refugee Forum
• Rev Piety Kamuyu, a minister with the Church
of England and chair of Kenya Nottinghamshire
Welfare Association.
• Paula Kizomba, the chair of Angolan Women
Association (OMA)
• Diana Blaj from the Roma community in
Nottingham.
• Laura Hutton an author and supporter of people
with sickle cell disorder
• Mandy Pride from Nottingham city council
• Edith Luck-Uweh from Women Cultures Exchange
• Rukhsana Aziz: Helping communities around NG7
integrate better into society through offering
English literacy training and employability skills.
• Raluca Moraru from Communities Inc.