CFA Society South Africa Day of the Girl
Empowered adolescent girls of today are tomorrow's leaders
Background
On December 19, 2011, United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. The International Day of the Girl Child focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.
CFA Society South Africa Day of the Girl
The objective of the initiative is to provide adolescent girls valuable exposure to the financial industry, and specifically the investments industry, giving participants a realistic view of different roles and opportunities within the industry. We believe the opportunity for young girl learners to visit corporate establishments will have a profound impact on their ability to visualise investments as a career.
In 2021, CFA Society South Africa launched Day of the Girl, a nationwide job shadowing initiative. The objective of the initiative is to provide adolescent girls valuable exposure to the financial industry, and specifically the investments industry, giving participants a realistic view of different roles and opportunities within the industry.
Given the circumstances around Covid-19, the launch in 2021 entailed a virtual programme which saw the participation of over 500 girl learners viewing the Career in Finance & Investment Management online workshop.
In 2022 we expanded the initiative to an all-important physical programme. This gave young girl learners the opportunity to visit corporate establishments that had a profound impact on their ability to visualise investments as a career. It also created awareness of the investment industry among the Grade 10/11 girl learner who is typically at the point of starting to consider university degrees and careers. While fields like accountancy, actuarial science, medicine, and engineering tend to be well understood as options, investments as a career option tends to be less well understood, yet the savings industry is a critical bedrock of the broader economy.
This is just the beginning and with the passion and dedication of the Women in Investment Management committee, schools and employers, we can work together and embark on sustainable projects to address and change the under representation of women in the investment industry.