Source: Zambia Daily Mail                                                                                                                                                                                                      About 200 women entrepreneurs from all the 10 provinces in Zambia have converged at Mulungushi International Conference for a national women jubilee expo running under the theme, 'Women as change agents for national development and prosperity'.

And Minister of Gender and Child Development Inonge Wina has praised women for their resilience in pursuing a better Zambia for all despite the many challenges and difficulties that they are faced with.
The conference, which is expected to last until Wednesday, is preceding the African Women's Economic Empowerment summit, which starts on Thursday, July 24.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) assistant director general and regional director for Africa Aeneas Chuma is expected to officially open the conference on Tuesday.
The conference is being hosted by the Ministry of Gender in collaboration with the World Bank and ILO, among other stakeholders.
For the next four days, the participants will undergo training on value addition and business management and will also showcase different items from the 10 provinces.
And in welcoming the women, Ms Wina said Zambian women have become change agents the country needs for national development and prosperity.
"The world now acknowledges that investment in women is simply smart economics. Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors and throughout at all levels of economic activity is essential to achieving sustainable development goals," she said.
The minister said Government is committed to the process of development and is working with different stakeholders such as international financial institutions and the private sector, among others, to move the gender agenda forward.
Ms Wina urged the women participating in the jubilee expo to embrace dialogue amongst themselves so that by brain storming, they could find solutions to some of the challenges they are faced with.
"I believe that after this national expo, we will see positive results as every woman will go back home to their communities and become role models," she said.
Ms Wina, however, said of grave concern to Government is gender inequalities, which breed gender-based violence (GBV).
She called for continued denouncing of GBV in the strongest terms to ensure that people establish zero tolerance attitudes and practices towards all forms of violence.
And Ministry of Gender and Child Development permanent secretary Daisy N'gambi said the conference will help women find answers to their challenges.
She said the expo has been organised to look at the promotion of economic empowerment of women, improve advocacy and empower women to grow their business and strengthen the women's movement in the country.
And giving a motivation talk, Zambia National Farmers Union president Evelyn Nguleka said success is within reach of every woman.
"I believe in every woman, we are all capable of making a difference. Do not look down on yourselves, as women we have so much in common. We are caregivers, farmers and are able to sacrifice to ensure that the next generations have a better life," Dr Nguleka said.
She urged women to strive to educate themselves and acquire necessary knowledge because this will help women identify who they are and their potential.

• Zambia