Motor Vehicle Fund honoured for commitment to achieve gender equality
The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund scooped the 2017 Award on African Gender, at an event recently held at the Windhoek Country Club Resort. The award is in recognition of its commitment to gender equality.
As an institution that supports gender equality and women empowerment, the fund said it currently employs 109 women of which three are in executive leadership positions, three in senior management and 22 in middle management portfolios. At governance level, the fund is led by a board comprising three male and two female members.
“In this evolving world, claimant and stakeholder expectations also change, and it becomes imperative for any institution including the fund to adjust its strategies to meet these demands” the MVA Fund stated.
As such, the fund is cognizant of the fact that its employees are central to driving its strategies to respond positively to such demands. The fund therefore invests in creating a working environment which is favourable to the personal and developmental growth of every employee. Although the focus is to provide equal opportunities to all employees, special emphasis is afforded to women, owing to past social disparities faced by those in minorities such as women.
These efforts are further in line with the government’s efforts of improving the status of women in society and eradicating injustices of the past as enshrined in the Affirmative Action (Employment) Act No.29 of 1998.
According to the fund, generally, women face a lot of challenges in their personal and professional life which sometimes affect their performance both at home and work.
To address these issues, the fund launched the Women’s Network in April 2015 to empower its female workforce to grow in various areas of their lives – be it financially, spiritually or professionally. The network further inspires women to share learning and support each other in the process.
Furthermore, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility the fund supports conferences that inspire women to realize their worth by sending its female workforce to attend.
Additionally, the fund congratulated the President, HE Dr Hage Geingob on the African Excellence Award for the “African Gender Award” for his efforts to create legal and policy frameworks to promote women’s right.
Even though the president received the award on behalf of the Namibian people, it is common practice for countries awarded this prestigious floating award to identify one NGO or civil society, private sector, and state-owned enterprise and individually recognize them for their contribution to achieve this target.
As such, the fund was nominated as recipient in the state-owned category. The Gender is My Agenda Campaign which recognizes African states for remarkable progress made to gender mainstreaming was established in 2005 by Femmes Africa Solidarite and its Pan African Centre for Gender, Peace, and Development in partnership with the campaign network.
Caption: MVA Fund’s CEO Mrs Rosalia Martins-Hausiku receiving the award.
