Girl Child Back to Work

 

Popular demand for participation in Cell C’s 5th Take a Girl Child to Work Day has pushed corporate registration figures to an all time high, giving testimony to the continued relevance and significance of the mobile network operator’s flagship national campaign.

 

To date, a total of 406 companies have already registered to participate in the formal, informal and supporting category in the campaign.

 

Of this figure, the participation of 247 companies under the auspices of formal partnerships will be wholly sponsored by Cell C.

 

This illustrates a staggering 108% increase in this category of participation since the campaign’s inception in May 2003, when the company had just 119 partnerships overall.

 

Cell C’s sponsorship of formal partners entails the provision of ground and air transportation; promotional gifts and tool kits for  girl learners, teachers, parents, boys and companies; safety consideration en route to and from the places of work as well as hosting national workshops to ensure the readiness of these companies to host them meaningfully and gainfully.

 

The companies in turn, open their doors and professional hours to a minimum of 20 girl learners from schools in previously disadvantaged communities to be part of Take a Girl Child to Work Day.

 

 

The participating 406 companies constitute 194 corporates, 29 financial services companies, 4 auditing firms, 85 government service organizations, 18 government departments, 18 local government authorities/municipalities, 4 institutions of higher learning, 5 media houses and 25 non-governmental organizations.

 

Cell C’s Chief Corporate Officer Zeona Motshabi noted, “Of the 406 registered companies, 90 are participating for the first time. A further 100 organisations represented by some high-profile role models and mentors will host more than 300 girl learners, who are winners of the campaign’s writing competition.

 

“Many others will arrange their own participation. This points to the continued growth in the popularity of the campaign and even more importantly, its relevance in our society today,” Motshabi said.

 

The recently-released results from the 2007 Census of Women in Corporate leadership conducted by the Business Women’s Association revealed that women’s representivity on boards of JSE-listed companies has remained constant from 2006 to 2007, indicating that where opportunities to appoint candidates came about, the appointments have not been in favour of transformation.

 

Cell C based the distribution of company targets per province on the economic contribution of each province to the country’s gross domestic product. As such, Gauteng enjoys the largest number of participation with 114 companies followed closely by KwaZulu/Natal and the Eastern Cape at 34 and 26 respectively.

 

The Western Cape, Limpopo and the North West saw a significant increase in corporate registrations.

 

“It has always been our objective to extend the reach of Take a Girl Child to Work Day to the most remote areas of South Africa. The increased registration from companies closest to these areas demonstrates that we are widening access to this pioneering program.

 

Of course, we will also be holding 3-day Career Expositions in each of the 9 provinces in August to ensure that high school learners in rural areas attain the all important knowledge and information about life after matriculation” Motshabi added.

 

Cell C introduced Take a Girl Child to Work Day in 2003 to inspire and motivate South Africa’s girl children to strive for excellence in academics and careers and to deepen their thinking about the roles they are expected to play in the country’s socio-economic development.

 

As part of preparations for the campaign, Cell C is currently conducting workshops in each of the 9 provinces between the companies and the schools they will be hosting to ensure that the young guests receive meaningful information and exposure on their day at work.

 

While corporate registration in respect of formal partnerships has been closed, it is still open for those companies which are willing to partake in the initiative on their own.

 

In this category, Cell C has earmarked an additional 400 companies which would encourage their employees to bring their daughters or sponsored girl children to work with them on the day or to host schools they already have long-standing relationships with.

 

Registration information is available on the Cell C website or via the number 084 190 GIRL.