International Women Empowerment Event’s launching conference –Awaken The Potential Within was held at Kurumba Maldives on 22nd and 23rd July with the core team spearheaded by Hira Ali, Gull Khan, Mariya Ali and Maheen Noor Soomro and inspirational speakers and guests such as Dr. Yvonne Thompson CBE FRSA, Madeleine Black and Peter Parker
IWEE’s is committed to supporting economic, social and political empowerment for Asian women through fast-tracking their personal & educational empowerment via turn-key conferences with follow-up programs, high-quality training, coaching, mentoring and a global network of dynamic women. They strongly believe that on the road to empowerment & equality, women must join hands across borders as we are #InThisTogether.
The Conference “Awaken the Inner Potential Within” achieved its major objectives in empowering the participants, kick-starting their empowerment journey while addressing the following:
- How to overcome obstacles women face in their journey to leadership positions across the globe,
- Bringing awareness to money mindset and cash flow management,
- How parenting affects how one operates in the workplace and personal relationships,
- How to thrive after sexual trauma,
- Importance of physical exercises that promote mind and body connection
- How to navigate to promoting one’s business on social media.
A live poll conducted at the opening ceremony revealed that the number one obstacle in the Maldives that women faced was the lack of infrastructure to support women entrepreneurs and those who aspire to reach leadership positions.
The importance of partnership with men was one of the main themes of the conference. To embed and promote this aspect IWEE introduced two male ambassadors at the conference; Husen Amr -MD STO & Mikail Naseem- Member of Parliament who will serve for two years advocating and putting measures into practice that open doors for women to enter into leadership positions, support their businesses and ensure safe space is created for them all while discouraging sexual harassment and other forms of bullying. The conference was attended by key officials including the Gender Minister, Police Chief & other dignitaries. The IWEE team also met with the Economic State Minister and Transport Minister after the conference.
With the focused attention of the new government to empower women and gender mainstreaming, both government and the business sectors IWEE received full support through sponsorships. IWEE partnered with Butterfly Effect, Hope for Women and Women on Boards. These partnerships provided a wraparound set of skills that participants can continue to access following the conference.
The key sponsors and media partners included Kurumba Maldives, Raajje TV, UNICEF Maldives, State Trading Organization (STO). Maldives Transport & Contracting Company (MTCC), Bank of Maldives Hummingbird, Welum Denmark, Daughters of Change US, Ananke Middle East, and Digital Business Women U.K
