From time immemorial the seas, oceans and inland water bodies have been mystical in providing livelihoods particularly for the local communities living nearby the shores. Initially the fisherfolks, mostly men, did subsistence fishing while women waited at the shores for fish and engaged in rudimentary value addition. Over the years seas and oceans not only continued to provide livelihoods but metamorphosed into mega businesses cutting across countries, giving way to the growth and development of marine vessels, sea borne trade & travel and thus paving way for the development of a myriad of professional cadres to help the navigate the oceans safely and efficiently.

Consequently, the maritime sector, and in particular oceans (blue economy) have emerged as an important area for the growth of the global economy and a  key source of food, energy, minerals, health, leisure, and transport upon which hundreds of millions of people depend. People world over rely on ships to transport the commodities, fuel, foodstuffs, goods and products that are vital in their everyday lives. International trade has evolved such that almost no nation can be fully self-sufficient. Every country relies, to some degree, on selling what it produces and acquiring what it lacks: none can be dependent only on its domestic resources. With only access to domestic supplies, each country would only be able to produce limited products, eventually leading to shortages – indeed, only about 23 per cent of all international trade is made between countries with a common border so the majority goods travel far distances to reach the end consumer.

The shipping industry is responsible for transporting and delivering more than 90% of global trade by volume – roughly 11 billion tons annually, carried out by only about 56,000 merchant vessels.

Despite the promise of gender equality, as enshrined in SDG 5, progress towards it in the maritime sector has been very slow in embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the latest maritime labour reports from ITF and BIMCO indicating that out of 1.89 million seafarers globally only 24,059 are women (half of 51% of humanity represented by less than 2%).

It is against this background that when the idea of bringing together women in the Eastern and Southern Africa region to spearhead the integration and advancement of women into the maritime sector embraced we embraced it with justified enthusiasm. As Women we saw this as an opportunity walk together in role modeling and mentorship giving birth to the Association of Women in the Maritime Sector, acronym WOMESA.

At a conference organized and sponsored by International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Government of Kenya through the then Ministry of Transport and Communications, WOMESA was officially launched.  Delegates to the inaugural conference were Officials from IMO’s Technical Corporation Division, IMO Regional Coordinator (for Eastern & Southern region), the then Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport, Director General, Kenya Maritime Authority and a host of high level government officials from IMO’s Member states within the Eastern and Southern African Region. The Association of Women in Eastern and Southern Africa (WOMESA) was ostensibly formed as a regional organization in line with UN – SDG 5 on gender equality IMO’s Women in Development (WID) Programme. WID’s primary objectives are to:

1. Integrate women into mainstream maritime activities,
2. Improve their access to maritime training and technology,
3. Increase their percentage at senior management level and
4. Promote economic self-reliance.

Following its launch, WOMESA was officially registered in Kenya and at the request of IMO, through the Ministry of Transport, hosted by the Kenya Maritime Authority. A secretariat was set up to facilitate the day to day running of the association.  A consultant was also brought on board to draft a Strategic Plan that would provide a road map for WOMESA’s activities. Amb. Nancy Karigithu, then Director General of Kenya Maritime Authority was nominated as the first President of the newly formed regional body. She was deputized by Ms. Meenaksi Birugnath, from Mauritius’ State Department of Shipping, Ministry of Ocean, Ecology and Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping.

National Chapters

Amongst the key strategies was the formation of National Chapters to facilitate effective mobilization of the target audience. Subsequently the first chapter, Kenya, was launched in December 2010 at a very colourful ceremony graced by two Cabinet Miinisters, then Minister for Gender Mrs. Esther Murigi and Minister for Interior Dr. Naomi Shabaan, Top Government Officials, CEOs of Shipping, Logistics, Clearing & Forwarding Agents and general Maritime sector. KPA’s then Operations Manager, Mrs. Evelyn Chibule Mwamburi was elected the first chairperson of the Kenyan Chapter. Shortly after, South Africa launched its Chapter at the port city of Durban (2010). This was followed by Tanzania who launched theirs in the port city of Dar-es-Salaam (2011),  Uganda, on the shores of lake Victoria (2011), Namibia launched in the Port city of Walvis Bay (2012), Mauritius in the port city of Port Louis (2013), Ethiopia in  Adulala Resort, neighboring the Maritime Training Institute, Seychelles in Mahe Island(2016),

Madagascar in the nation’s capital Antananarivo (2017), Somalia (2019), Comoros Island (2020), Malawi (2021), , Zambia (2021).  Plans are in high gear to launch chapters in the remaining countries in the region which include: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan, Swaziland, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Primary Focus

The primary objective of the Association is to encourage IMO Member States to open the doors of their maritime institutes to enable women train alongside men and so acquire the high-level of competence that the maritime industry demands. This is done through advocating for gender equity, improving women’s access to maritime training and technology and promoting their advancement to key decision making levels in the maritime sector in Eastern and Southern Africa.

“The ship’s culture is a reflection of masculine norms and values” reminisced Amb. Nancy Karigithu, Kenya’s first Director of the Kenya Maritime Authority, in her early days in the maritime sector, reflecting on the “mundane things like the size of uniform, design of space and facilities on board’’. She immediately embarked on action to improve, support and boost female welfare. This, she said called for a reevaluation of the working conditions both on shore and of shore of the working conditions to make them more gender-sensitive. Then sanitary facilities were rudimentary and were void of the unique needs of female seafarers.  Hence the urgent need to facilitate the industry to both recruit and retain female seafarers who would make the necessary changed to accommodate female seafarers.

Catching them young

Conscious of the fact that for centuries women have and still encounter prejudice in the industry, which is largely attributed to cultural practices and the common myth that STEM and ICT fields is a man’s world, WOMESA has for this reason put in place a strong mentorship Programme aimed at reaching out to the young girls creating awareness about the opportunities available in the maritime sector. In doing so members of WOMESA throughout the region visit girls ’secondary schools to sensitize them and to give them a road map that would lead them to maritime studies.  By increasing, especially the female, take-up of STEM subjects at a much younger age, will help increase the size of the pool of talent available to satisfy the demand for skills, when the career choice comes. Having a bigger pool of talent will eliminate the gender gap created by a limitation in size and diversity of talent during the time of specialization in STEM fields like research and engineering related jobs.

The absence of relevant educators also contributes to the lack of stimulus for women to take up careers in the shipping industry. For this reason WOMESA does not shy away from flaunting the few women who have made a breakthrough and broken the glass ceiling in the maritime sector.  They have been in the front line to creating awareness and sensitizing educators from primary to secondary schools on careers in the shipping industry.

Membership

WOMESA (Regional) is the apex body comprising affiliation of 24 National Chapters from member states defined by IMO as Eastern & Southern Africa region. At the national level membership is open to female individuals working or having retired from maritime sectors in their country of residence in the member state.  The constitution also provides for other categories of membership which include: Corporate, Associate and honorary. The Association also provides for the establishment of working relationships with special organizations/interest groups.

Governance

The Governing Council (GC) is the supreme organ of the Association charged with the responsibility of formulating policies and providing strategic direction. The council consists of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, monitoring and evaluation officer, communication and Public Relations officer, two co-opted members and Head of Secretariat as an Ex officio. There is also an Administrative Council made of Chairpersons of National Chapters whose countries are not represented in the GC.

Equitable representation is taken into consideration to ensure that the Governing Council reflects the face of the region. The same structure is cascaded at the national chapter levels albeit taking into consideration the laws and practices within the country’s jurisdiction.

Strategic Plan

Right from the onset WOMESA’s activities have always been guided by successive Strategic Plans derived from article 3 of its constitution which defines the objectives of the Association which are, to:

1. Advocate gender equality in the Eastern and Southern African Maritime Sector.
2. Integrate women in the mainstream maritime activities.
3. Promote access of women to the maritime sector through education, training and career opportunities.
4. Lobby for increasing the percentage of women at the senior management level within the region’s maritime sector.
5. Promote access of women to quality employment in the maritime sector.
6. Enhance inclusion of women in the maritime sector through partnership and collaboration with Development Partners.
7. Promote co-operation, friendship & understanding through exchange of knowledge and dissemination of information.
8. Examine international conventions on maritime and make recommendations aimed at engendering relevant legal frameworks.

We are now in our 3^rd strategic plan whose key result areas have been arrived at after reviewing the earlier ones in collaboration and intense deliberation with national chapters. There was consensus on the need to provide a clear road map for enhancing efficiency, being proactive and relevant in the process of mainstreaming women in the development of the regional and global maritime sector, promoting WOMESA’s profile and raising adequate resources to support operations. The key result areas across the board were zeroed down to:

1. Enhance Training and Capacity building
2. Strengthening mentorship
3. Identifying reliable resource mobilization fundraising approaches
4. Stepping up the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV)
5. Identifying New Opportunities for women in the Blue Economy
6. Retaining and increasing membership
7. Enhancing Research and Development
8. Increased awareness of WOMESA’s, visibility/Profile
9. Undertaking Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) activities

Our Milestones, Our Success

Capacity Building

1. WOMESA has benefitted from IMO’s Women in Maritime programme where our some of our members have taken part and continue to take part in the SheEO leadership scheme. The Maritime SheEO leadership accelerator programme aims to equip women with the leadership skills and confidence to take a seat at the shipping decision-making table. It is a virtual programme consisting of 8 weeks with a weekly commitment of 3-4 hours of learning.
2. Through IMO assistance/sponsorship several members have also benefitted from programmes offered at the Galillee International Management Institute (GIMI). Others have attended graduate programmes at the World Maritime University (WMU), IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) and the International Maritime Safety, Security and Environment Academy (IMSSEA).
3. Our members have also been facilitated to attend two-week short upgrading courses organized by the Le Havre Port Authority, for female officials from maritime and/or port authorities of developing countries to improve management and operational efficiency of their ports. Lectures are delivered in either English or French on a variety of port matters including security, marketing, tariffs and logistics as well as facilitation of maritime traffic, ship/port interface and concession contracts.
4. For successive years between 2011 and 2018, WOMESA was able to organise Annual Training programmes in capacity building and Annual General Meeting in different member states. These forums were attended by the Governing Council, top leadership of National Chapters, IMO officials, officials from Maritime Administrations and Regional maritime bodies. They were also used to launch chapters besides benchmarking with maritime institutions.
5. The Region also hosted the first International Day for Women in Maritime (IDWIM) celebrations outside IMO’s Headquarters in London. IDWIM is celebrated on the 18^th of May every year since it was declared by IMO in 2021. The venue for the celebrations were the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya’s lake city of Kisumu.

Mentorship – Our flagship

Our Members have traversed secondary and tertiary institutions with a singular objective of getting girls to know, understand and eventually take up subjects that would lead them to careers in the mainstream maritime sector. Women who have broken the ceiling in the maritime sector often volunteer their time and resources to talk to the youngsters.

Promoting WOMESA Brand

1. WOMESA actively participates and organizes events to mark significant days in the calendar of maritime industry. These include: WOMESA Beach Cleaning Day” tied to African Day of Seas and Oceans celebrated annually on 25th July, International Day for Women in Maritime IDWIM, International Women’s Day, World Menstruation Day and a host of maritime related events.
2. WOMESA is in the process of Lobbying for Observer Status in the UN, IGOs, and INGOs by being proactive and participating/leading gender discussions during ILO/IMO meetings and conferences,
3. The Association presents papers and make presentations in regional and international fora on the role of the women in the marine sector,
4. WOMESA participated in the inaugural “Sustainable Blue Economy Conference held in Nairobi, 26^th – 28^th November, 2019. WOMESA was able to make a significant contribution in gender matters which was included the conference’s report,
5. The Association also collaborates with relevant government departments for support in the implementation of WOMESA’s agenda,
6. WOMESA is in the process of revamping its website with the aim of making it more interactive including social media platforms. This will no doubt go a long way in reaching out to the younger populace.

Our challenges

One of our biggest challenges has been to mobilize adequate resources and funds for our ambitious programmes. While acknowledging support from our key stakeholders, employers and corporate members who have come forth especially during major events our main source of income remains members’ subscription. Unfortunately the funds fall short in covering expenses. So far the secretariat is run on voluntary basis but going forward the strategic plan has clearly spelt out the need for a fully-fledged functional secretariat.

The association also weathered the storm brought about by the covid-19 pandemic which slowed down our activities. In response we adopted virtual platforms for doing our business. We were able to hold a number of webinars at regional and international level. We pride ourselves for having been able to review both our Constitution and Strategic Plan using the online platform. The reviewed constitution and Strategic Plan 2022 – 26 were also launched virtually.

Shortly after, for the first time in the history of WOMESA an AGM and elections of the Governing Council was held virtually.

Our Guiding principles

Our vision:

“To be a key partner for gender inclusivity in the sustainable development agenda of the maritime sector in Africa” ……..sums up who we are, what we stand for and where we want to be.

Our mission:

“To promote active women participation in the maritime sector and contribute to the growth of the industry in Eastern and Southern Africa through pursuance of activities aimed at promoting gender equality”.…….operationalises our vision.

And to guide us in our day to day transactions are Our Core Values:

Integrity, Professionalism, Commitment, Respect for diversity, Teamwork, Reliability, Transparency & Innovation 

Appreciation

However, we will be failing in our duty if we do not acknowledge with humility the tremendous and unequivocal support that we have received from well-wishers across the board:

• IMO and by extension the UN has been in the forefront in supporting WOMESA since its inception.
• Government (line) Ministries/Departments/Agencies in Transport, Shipping and Maritime Administrations in member states. In most cases these departments/agencies have come forth to provide funding and logistical support during our forums hosted in member states.
• Shipping companies, Regional bodies concerned with maritime affairs.