UNITED States vice president Joe Biden’s wife, Jill has praised First Lady, Dr Christine Kaseba for being instrumental in promoting women entrepreneurs in Zambia.
Dr Biden said it was good that Dr Kaseba was championing the cause because entrepreneurship was important for job creation and spurring development for the benefit of all Zambians.
“Thanks to Zambia’s first lady, Dr Christine Kaseba for being instrumental in promoting entrepreneurship among women,” she said.
Dr Biden said when she addressed the entrepreneurs at Pamodzi hotel in Lusaka on Wednesday afternoon that she was inspired to see that the majority of farmers in Zambia were women.
Dr Biden who was in the country for a two-day official visit to promote girls’ education and women’s participation in Government, the economy and civil society said Zambian women were doing a good job in entrepreneurship.
She was accompanied to Zambia by Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Rajiv Shah, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women Issues, Catherine Russell and other officials.
She said entrepreneurship was a cornerstone to economic development and should be championed by many.
She said it was encouraging that woman entrepreneurs were nurturing each other in their business and committed the U.S. government’s continued support to such projects.
Ms Russell encouraged the women entrepreneurs to continue with their work adding that although there were encountering challenges, there were ways of overcoming them.
Ruth Simwanza, from Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), a Zambian company supported by USAID investment through its Feed the Future Programme said the organization has over 79, 000 women taking an active role in production of key crops such as ground nuts.
Meanwhile, Vice- President Guy Scott’s wife, Charlotte has urged women in the country to access cancer screening services and take advantage of the Gender Based Violence (GBV) One Stop Centre at Ng’ombe Health centre.
The One Stop Centre which the US and United Kingdom Governments set up at a cost of US$10 million provides prompt and comprehensive services to survivors of GBV.
Dr Scott said when she and her counterpart Dr Biden visited the Ng’ombe health clinic yesterday that women should seek early cancer screening to prevent the increase of cervical cancer cases.
During the tour of the centre, Dr Biden and Dr Scott visited pregnant women who were receiving anti natal care talks and patients before they joined survivors of GBV at the centre.
Ng’ombe GBV One Stop Centre coordinator, Derrick Chila told Dr Biden and Dr Scott and their delegations that the centre was a one “shop” offering all services such as counseling and shelter referrals to survivors of GBV.
Dr Biden and her delegation left at 15:47 hours for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for their second leg of a three-nation tour of Africa.
“…for being instrumental in promoting women entrepreneurs in Zambia…”
What a load of bullsh!t. Stop praising people for what they call themselves and learn to use evidence. Please name just one woman she has helped, if any. All our successful women are self made.
In America we just call her Jill.
But in Zambia why emphises as DR. DR. DR. DR. both herself and husband are infact more than educated… and using Dr. is kind of belittling her.
It would be an act of love if she persuades her husband to step down and take a rest.
What a load of rubbish Mrs Biden. Do not read speeches written by other people. Dr Kaseba has done some commendable work as a doctor and first lady, but this is NOT one of them. Women have been doing this long before Dr Kaseba was born. Even her mother raised her up almost single handed.