AFRICAN AND SPANISH PORT WOMEN'S DAYS IN LAS PALMAS: THE ABIDJAN PORT AUTHORITY TAKES PART IN THE 10TH EDITION

Activités portuaires Thursday 16 November 2023

The 10th edition of the African and Spanish Port Women's Days opened on Monday 02 October 2023, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. A genuine platform for sharing experiences, this 10th edition brought together more than 80 women from not only Spain, but also several African countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco, Senegal, Gambia, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Cape Verde, Guinea Conakry, Congo, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Ghana.

The Abidjan Port Authority (PAA) was part of this event. Mrs. Florentine GUIHARD- KOIDIO, Head of department in the Digital Information System Direction, and also President of the Network of Professional Women in the Maritime and Port sectors for West and Central Africa (NPWMP-WCA), led the delegation. She was accompanied by Mrs. Ama AFFRO MOBIO, Head of department in the Purchasing and Stock Management Direction, and Mrs. Céna RICHMOND. D, Head of department in the Sales, Marketing and Communications Direction.

During the opening ceremony, Ana Maria PÉREZ PENALVO, Director of the Puertos de Las Palmas Foundation and host of the ceremony, expressed her satisfaction at the continued existence of this network of professional women, which today enables women to enjoy greater autonomy in the maritime and port sector, both in Africa and in Spain, and to carry out various training and capacity-building programmes. In her speech, she thanked the Spanish government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Canary Islands government, through the Vice-Councillor for Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Children and the Family, for their support in organising these events.

These meetings are also one of the essential tools for developing a common language for maritime traffic and the 4. pOrt concept. "The 4. pOrt update for ports not only has a positive impact on the economic management and profitability of operators, but is also a key factor in protecting ports in their win-win strategy," said Mrs. PÉREZ PENALVO.

With the empowerment of women enshrined in the former United Nations Millennium Development Goals (Goal 3) and the current Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 5), the maritime and port industry is making a concerted effort to give women opportunities to excel and assume leadership within the sector.

The Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) is no exception to this rule.  Mr. Jean-Marie KOFFI, the Secretary General, who honoured the opening of this 10th edition with his presence, reaffirmed his association's commitment to supporting the Maritime and Port Women's Network in its capacity-building activities: "PMAWCA will continue to support their work, as do all the General Managers of member ports, by creating a favourable environment for women to operate and excel in their professional careers," he said. He also took the opportunity to congratulate the directors and members of the Network for the work they are doing, and urged them to intensify their efforts to achieve ever-increasing results.

Mrs. Florentine Guihard-Koidio, speaking on behalf of the General Coordination of the NPWMP-WCA, expressed her delight at the remarkable mobilisation of the Network's members, and expressed her gratitude to the General Managers of PMAWCA member ports for their support for women in the maritime and port sector. She also thanked the pioneering women of the Network for the initiative taken since its creation in December 2007 in Lagos (Nigeria), to reflect on the issue of Gender and Development in the maritime sector and port environment. She urged the sister associations present at the conference to complement each other, share ideas and work in synergy to achieve the objectives set.

This 10th edition, which will take place over five days, will address a number of maritime and port issues. A number of presentations and round tables will be organised on different themes. These include the leadership, empowerment and social participation of women in ports; digital communication systems in ports; the presentation of the East African Women Dockers' Network; the experiences of professional women on the evolution of maritime and port professions in the era of digitalisation; women leaders in national and international port institutions; and the social responsibilities of ports through the establishment of foundations, with a view to their future implementation in African ports.

According to the latest maritime data, women currently account for only 1.2% of the world's maritime workforce, i.e. some 24,000 women working in the sector. Although still low, these figures are positive, as they reflect a 50% increase in the number of women registered, compared with 2015 figures. However, more needs to be done to break through the glass ceilings that still exist.

As a reminder, the PAA gives pride of place to the promotion of gender and development. This is reflected in the training of 10 employees (06 women and 04 men) for the 6th class (graduating class, 2023) in Gender Engineering, by the UNESCO Chair in Water, Women and Decision-Making Power.