A Kenyan Senator for the Uasin Gishu County and 1st Chairperson of the Senate Speakers Panel, Prof. Margaret Jepkoech Kamar will deliver the Keynote Address at the Young African Women Congress (YAWC) 2019 scheduled to take place from 21st to 25th July, 2019 under the theme, “Grassroots Mobilisation for Women’s Empowerment: Young Women Lead”.

Specifically, the Keynote will be delivered during the Opening Ceremony for the congress on Monday 22nd July in the presence of Ministers of State from different African countries, Ghanaian Government Officials, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, other Speakers for the congress, Traditional Rulers, Civil Society Organisations and the media both local and international as well as the teeming delegates that will act as change agents in their various environments after the congress.

She will expound the theory of grassroots mobilisation in terms of engaging the ordinary woman in Africa and conscientizing her about the significance of her contributions towards Africa’s development. And more importantly, Prof. will suggest the best ways young women could position themselves as changemakers with the limited resources at their disposal.

Prof. Kamar is a specialist in Soil and Water Conservation with lecturing experience of over twenty years from Moi University in Kenya. She is also a seasoned Administrator; having served as University Campus Principal for five years and University Deputy Vice Chancellor for three years.

In governance, Prof. Kamar served her nation as Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology for two and a half years and Assistant Minister, Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources.

She also served five years, as a member of the East African Legislative Assembly and five years as Member of Parliament in the Kenya National Assembly, representing Eldoret East Constituency. One of her notable achievements while in the National Assembly was her position on the Speaker’s Panel as the first Kenyan woman, a position she held for two and a half years. Within this period, she also served as a member of the Budget, House Procedures and Standing Orders Committees.

On the international front, she represented the Kenya National Assembly in the African, Caribbean and Pacific – European Union, Joint Parliamentary Assembly (ACP-EU JPA) where she chaired The Social Committee covering Environmental matters including Climate change and Sustainable Development.

Prof. Kamar’s position as a policy maker and legislator, and a Professor who engages students who are directly or indirectly involved with grassroots engagements regarding governments’ decisions and directives, makes her an excellent choice for the keynote speaker at the congress. She brings in a lot of insight and experience which will be beneficial to the conversations that will emerge at the congress.

YAWC is opened to young women of Africa within the age limits of 18 and 45 who wish to be a part of the biggest platform for women empowerment in Africa. The platform promotes knowledge sharing and intellectual discourse and most importantly, engenders a strong sense of belonging which propels participants to become changemakers in their immediate environments while affecting the continent as a whole. These are achieved through keynote presentation, panel discussions and group brainstorming sessions as well as fun trips among others.

Registration is currently on-going and interested participants can log on to the official website for the Young African Women Congress 2019, www.yawcafrica.org to register and join the biggest gathering of women in Africa.

YAWC: Empowering Women for Continental Development and Integration for a Better World.