Activist among world’s top women leaders
ACTIVIST Lungelwa Goje from Kayamandi in Stellenbosch, returned from the foremost empowering and educational gathering of female leaders in the world, where she was the only South African.
Women Political Leaders (WPL), the global network of tenured and current women politicians, teamed up with Western Union, a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, to encourage more girls to get involved in politics.
Their goal was to increase female representation in political and government roles and driving greater diversity of thinking in policy making and governance.
Goje, a feminist, was selected to represent South Africa at the three-day WPL Summit in Lithuania.
She was one of the 21 exceptional, young women activists sponsored by Western Union.
The young women have been selected from 16 different countries for their support of social and economic justice in their home countries.
At the summit, the selected young women were connected with women who are already in senior roles in government and the private sector with the aim of helping them forge valuable connections and create an even larger impact.
Goje, a BCom Accounting student at the University of the Western Cape, was chosen based on her exceptional accolades and passion and support of social and economic justice.
“I would love to see a South Africa that is free of patriarchy, that is open, where women own their bodies and their voices,” she said.
Goje launched her G(irls)20 post-summit initiative in this year helping girls from disadvantaged areas with maths, English, life skills and career awareness and still believes that her country can be saved with responsible leadership that empowers women.
She has always been in the top three pupils of her school in high school. In 2009 she achieved an Outstanding Mathematics Award in her school and has represented her school in a national debate held by the Department of Transport.
Head of regulatory affairs and policy Western Union EU Chloe MacEwen said: “We are proud to be involved in the WPL Summit and to sponsor the young women from G(irls)20 – because at its core, our mission is to connect people regardless of educational, financial or technological attainment to build a better tomorrow.”