Yesterday, the British High Commission in Windhoek hosted a networking event on the eve of International Women’s Day under the theme “#BeBoldForChange”. The event, including live tweeting, aimed to create a platform for mentoring young women and offering them an opportunity to network with other women and men who have built successful careers and businesses for themselves. The guests were encouraged to bring along a young woman they felt would benefit from such a platform and contact making.

The British High Commissioner, HE Jo Lomas, also extended an invite to the One Economy Foundation (housed under the Office of the First Lady) which works in the area of helping young talented women receive guidance and mentorship. The BHC was honoured by the presence of The First Lady, Madame Monica Geingos, herself.

In her comments the First Lady shared her own mentoring journey, stating that she was mentored by many different people. While encouraging the sharing of successes between mentees and their mentors, Madame Geingos encouraged mentors not to be scared to share their failures as often, this is the biggest learning opportunity for mentees: “I have watched women who had to literally work themselves up from clerk to CEO. And in doing so, we all have made mistakes. And it is okay to make mistakes. We need to share these mistakes as well. We cannot only highlight the successes we had. And in doing so, we can only help you with information. We can only take you as far as you are you are willing to go.”

The event was well attended by a range of over 40 (mostly) women representing various sectors, who were happy to share their journeys and tips with the over 40 young women present. As a follow up, the British High Commission offers to set up mentoring relationship between interested guests, helping ensure that Namibia’s young women are empowered and confident enough to achieve their dreams. Gender equality and the promotion of women’s rights across the world is a top policy priority for the British Government. To help promote this goal the British Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Boris Johnson, last week appointed a Special Envoy for Gender Equality, Ms Joanna Roper.

The full speech by H.E. Jo Lomas, British High Commissioner to Namibia, can be read here: Speech by H.E. Jo Lomas at the IWD 2017 event in Windhoek (MS Word Document, 22.3KB)