The March 2nd is the day consecrated to the Angolan women, in recognition of their role in the struggle of resistance of the Angolan people against the Portuguese colonial occupation.
The event, of particular importance, not only for women but also for the other members of the society, is owed to their recognition and with courage, determination and price of their lives, contributed to a free and independent Angola.
The Angolan women have always played a prominent role in the country’s liberation process, with representative examples of the heroic deeds of Queen Nzinga Mbandi, in the distant past, and Deolinda Rodrigues, Irene Cohen, Engracia dos Santos, Teresa Afonso, Lucrecia Paim and other anonymous figures.
This year, the Angolan women are called upon to transform the celebrations date into an event for reflection, enabling a healthy and constructive debate, with a view to seeking consensual solutions to problems.
Thus, it is considered essential that the state continues to support the fight to eradicate attitudes that contrast with the importance of the social role of women or that violate their individual and collective rights, thus creating conditions for their protection.
In the present case of Angola, despite the achievements, there is the awareness that the Angolan women still continue to face numerous problems for their full emancipation.
The high degree of illiteracy that rages among women, inequality in employment opportunities and socio-professional growth, the persistence of domestic violence, which mainly affects women and children, are some of the many problems to which the civil society should pay special attention.
The importance of the date for the Angolan people, is celebrated at a time the consolidation of peace, national reconstruction, and the society has become irreversible, towards a greater gender balance at all levels of the social structure of the State.
The Organisation of Angolan Women (OMA), established in 1962 as the women’s wing of the Movement of Liberation of Angola (MPLA), played a crucial role in supporting the guerrilla forces in and out of Angola.
On Sunday, March 1, OMA paid a homage to the women who contributed to defend the homeland, in a ceremony that marked the opening of the March Women Day events.
The ceremony, chaired by OMA secretary general, Luzia Inglês, included the laying of a wreath by the memorial of the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto.
