Page 779 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 5 April 2022
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has been on offer across our incredible city. Several of these are related to International Women’s Day, which, as you know, we formally celebrated on 8 March, but there were plenty of events throughout that week, and indeed throughout that month.
On 26 March I was pleased to join the Alo Enlightened Women and Canberra Multicultural Women’s Forum. Specifically, my role was the launch of Alo’s new financial literacy program, Caring for Your Money, which is an initiative to improve financial understanding and management for women. It is delivered by women, and it is done in a way that is meaningful and leads to real and positive change; thus it helps women to participate more equally. This was ahead of a keynote speech from Mariam Veiszadeh on gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.
I was very pleased to see how well attended this event was, including a very strong presence of men and community leaders. My sincere thanks go to Alo and CMWF for their collaborative spirit and the consistent and thoughtful way they continue to have such genuine impact in the community.
This event preceded the Nowruz celebrations in Civic Square, which I spoke about in the last sitting. This coincides with the spring equinox or, for us in Canberra, the autumn equinox. Nowruz promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families, as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness. It is also a celebration that contributes to cultural diversity and friendship among people and different communities.
The event in Civic Square showcased the very best of this spirit, together with crafts and textiles, delicious food, wonderful dancing, as well as a particular highlight for me, the singing of children of the Iranian nationalist song, Ey Iran. This was the very first time that the Persian-Australian Community Association of Canberra has held such an event, and I congratulate them and hope that we see it back again, and with an even bigger crowd, soon.
On that day there was also the BAPS Women’s Conference, which I was very honoured to speak at, and share a little bit of my background and my journey to where I am today. The BAPS community is known to many of us in this space. This women’s conference was one of many held throughout Australia. It was firmly women only, and included skits, videos, dancing and speeches. The theme was “everyday extraordinary”, and it was incredibly humbling to be in a room of women who exemplified this theme. I thank all of the organisers and all who spent time with me that day for the huge amount of effort they went to in making me feel so very welcome and part of the conference.
Initiative for Women in Need also held an International Women’s Day event with a firm focus on female-led social enterprises, the impact they have, and the opportunities for women. This was before the relaunch the following night of Her Kitchen Table, a social enterprise which in just a few months last year created not only real connection but also real money for culturally and linguistically diverse Canberra women. I valued the opportunity to share how increasing the number of businesses run by women is a key part of diversifying our economy and to outline
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