As South Africa pays tribute to women on Friday 09 August, National Women’s Day, ITNewsAfrica is afforded the opportunity to reflect on the role that female technology professionals play in growing the continent’s ICT sector.
Besides a general tribute to women in South Africa, the public holiday is always associated with the contribution made by women in the development of the country’s multi-racial, democratic society – and advancement in all fields, including science and technology.
Events like the 1956 mass demonstration by the Federation of South African women against the imposition of the pass laws form part of the historical significance of the Day.
More recently, the world was reminded of the global relevance of women in society when, on Friday 12 July 2013, the name Malala Yousafzai was etched into the annals of United Nations (UN) history.
The Pakistani teenager, who made worldwide headlines after surviving a gun-shot wound to the head, inflicted by the Taliban, addressed the global body at its headquarters in New York and spoke of the general rights of women and that of young girls to education.
