- …as 7 Ghanaian women attend 41st WISTA International Conference
More women are needed to take up leadership roles in the maritime sector to help bridge the gender gap and fulfil the fifth Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), stakeholders at the 41st Women’s International Shipping Trading Association (WISTA) International conference in Hamburg, Germany, have concluded.
Attended by seven Ghanaian women from the Ghana chapter of the association (WISTA Ghana), a total of 170 ladies in the maritime industry participated. Ghana’s delegation was led by the president, Jemilat Jawulaa Mahamah.
A report of the gender survey undertaken by WISTA and the International maritime organisation (IMO) showed that women are still under-represented in the industry.
Hosted by WISTA Germany, the conference was on the theme ‘Shipping 2025, Today’s Actions for Tomorrow’s Business’, and was organised as a hybrid of live and Internet at Rothenbaum with 23 countries representing. The Annual General Meeting and Conference was the 41st, the first taking place in 1981.
President of WISTA Ghana, Jemilat Jawula Mahamah, noted that women leaders have to put in a lot more effort to promote the empowerment of middle-level women and also encourage the up-and-coming young ones in the industry.
She maintained the future of shipping will be driven not only by technology but also decarbonisation of the ships that are coming out onto the market. Africa as a continent, she emphasized, will have to put systems in place to catch up with the rest of the world so as to be competitive.
On the part of the International Maritime Organisation, Secretary-General Kitack Lim said the decision to have an extensive review of its conventions on reducing pollution from the shipping industry entered into force in 2020.
WISTA International Human Resource Committee Head and Former Head of Shipper Services of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Naa Densua Aryeetey from Ghana, gave an overview of the committee report and announced the WISTA Personailty Award. Two new excos were also welcomed into the association leadership.
