For several years now, DMAN has put a focus on the promotion and qualification of women from developing and emerging countries as well as from Lower Saxony’s partner regions and has developed targeted programmes for this purpose.
Against the background of the cooperation with the Tokushima Prefectural Administration in Japan as well as with the partner regions in Tanzania, Zanzibar/Tanzania and Eastern Cape, South Africa, DMAN has developed and successfully conducted several projects funded by the federal state of Lower Saxony that aim to promote and support gender equality in those regions.
The most recent successful example is the project "Fit for Female Leadership, Part II" for personal development and empowerment of women from Tokushima/Japan, with the aim to empower women in a professional context and to give them the confidence to take on leadership positions and to plan their career path accordingly.
The topic of "Fit for Female Leadership" for Japanese women is to be seen against the background that equality between men and women still shows great deficits in the Japanese economy – even if Japan is a technologically highly developed industrial country.
The project was implemented with a 3-day virtual workshop from 27-28 June 2022 and a 5-day on-site training course at DMAN in Celle from 4-10 September 2022.
The delegation was accompanied by Ms Sawako Hirata, Head of International Exchange Projects, and Mr Nico Bohnsack, Coordinator for International Relations, both from the Diversity Promotion Department, Future Development Division of the Tokushima Prefectural Administration. Dr Angela Daalmann was the trainer of this seminar.
The programme combined the following approaches:
- Seminar input and training,
- practical visits to companies,
- exchange with women from Lower Saxony who are entrepreneurs or hold management positions,
- and an interesting cultural programme in Lower Saxony.
The project made a valuable contribution to the partnership agreement between Lower Saxony and Tokushima and to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular to SDG 4: Quality Education. It took place within the framework of the 15th anniversary of the partnership between the federal state of Lower Saxony and Tokushima Prefecture.
The following projects are planned in 2023:
- "Young Leadership - Empowerment of Girls to Promote Gender Equality (SDG 5)" in Kibaha, Tanzania.
- "Fit for Self-Leadership in Business and Being a Role Model to Others", Part 2/2023 in Zanzibar.
- "Fit for Female Leadership, Part 2/2023" for women from Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The contact person for the competence field of health, social affairs and gender equality at DMAN is project manager Julia Thoma.