Romana

On October 27, the NGO Harambee-España awarded the “Harambee Prize for the Advancement and Equality of African Women, 2011” to Christiane Kadjo from the Ivory Coast. This award seeks to honor physical, juridical or moral persons who have carried out a humanitarian, cultural or educational work in benefit of African women and who have fostered greater sensitivity for the rights and equality of women.

This year’s recipient has a degree in Business and Management Sciences from the Higher Institute of Technology in Abidjan. She has worked in businesses in Ivory Coast and Paris, and in financial institutions such as the BICICI (Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et L’Industrie de la Côte d’Ivoire), where she held various management posts. Later she dedicated herself to the formation and advancement of women in the Ivory Coast. Together with other Ivorians, she created the NGO “Association for Education and Development,” which has constructed centers of professional formation in the poorest districts of Abidjan and Yamoussoukro, the two principal cities of the country, where the majority of the refugees who lost everything in the recent war have congregated. Besides offering professional formation to obtain a degree that provides access to employment, the association organizes numerous short courses for adults aimed at offering women the tools needed to earn their living in a way that respects their dignity. Along with courses in weaving, nutrition, dress making, management, baking, etc., there are others on health, human rights, equality between men and women, literacy, AIDS prevention, etc.

The prize is one of the initiatives organized in various countries by the Harambee project, which originated on October 6, 2002, in connection with the canonization of St. Josemaria Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei.