By CHIDA SAKALA –

•First Lady Esther Lungu with Self Help Africa country director Kalongo Chitengi (left) at the Southern Sun Hotel in Lusaka yesterday after the Self Help Africa policy dialogue forum dubbed ‘Enhancing Women’s Entrepreneurship from policy to practical’. Picture By THOMAS NSAMA

FIRST Lady Esther Lungu has said the women’s economic empowerment requires holistic interventions that will address the various challenges faced by the womenfolk.
Ms Lungu said women empowerment, particularly for the rural female dwellers, could only be achieved if matters related to health, education, child marriages and all forms of violence against women were resolved.
The First Lady said this in Lusaka yesterday when she officiated at the Self Help Africa Policy Dialogue Forum at Southern Sun Hotel.
Self Help Africa is an international aid organisation dealing in food security, nutrition and other issues involving the empowerment of women through agri-based rural enterprises.
Yesterday’s forum was aimed at addressing the development of women entrepreneurship with a particular focus on marginalised females in rural areas.
The First Lady said women played a pivotal role in society and excluding them from matters of development was detrimental to national development.
“Rural women are the backbone of rural livelihoods as they provide more than 70 per cent of agricultural labour and perform most, if not all, of the household chores, providing the bulk of care for their families,” she said.
Ms Lungu was pleased that Self Help Africa, through its work with rural communities across the country, was in agreement with the Government to improve the livelihood of rural women.
At the same event, Ministry of Gender officer Lusako Sichali said the ministry’s mandate was to ensure that women were not left behind in economic development.
Mr Sichali said the ministry was taking a leading role in promoting the welfare of rural women by working with feminine-run cooperatives in various districts and facilitating their capital requirements.