Founder Image OTUNBA DR BASIRAT NAHIBI – NIASSE. OON WAELE/ARCELFA. FOUNDER/PRESIDENT

Being a woman, my concern extends to all Africans and, indeed, to all women and children who suffer during conflicts.

I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of love and compassion, elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed.

Let us focus attention on the challenges facing women from equal rights and education to leadership, literacy, the power of the media, and technology to effect change in women's futures and so much else.

Let us take stock from where we are and what needs to be done in advancing the unfinished business of the 21st-century empowerment of women and girls. Now, this is unfinished in Africa, where too many women are still treated at best as second-class citizens, at worst as some kind of subhuman species even though a large number of women have achieved great success in a male-dominated society like ours. I have always believed that women are not victims; we are agents of change, women are drivers of progress, and we are peacemakers.

What is the real meaning of empowerment?

When are women really empowered? Is it just about having personal choice and respect in personal and professional life? Or is it something more? To answer this question, we have to understand the qualities women have that help her become a successful leader.

Psychologically speaking, women have certain qualities. In 2005, a year-long study conducted by Caliper, a Princeton, New Jersey-based management consulting firm, and Aurora, a London-based organization that advances women, identified a number of characteristics that distinguish women leaders from men when it comes to qualities of leadership:

  • Women have been found to have better empathy, sensitivity, caring, and the ability to understand other people and their emotions.
  • Women have been found to have extremely good communication skills, interpersonal skills, and flexibility among others.

WAELE/ARCELFA has embarked on her 2nd decade of African women emancipation. WAELE/ARCELFA will intensify on women Economic & Leadership Empowerment, Reproductive Health & Rights, as well as Peace & Conflict Resolutions, through Summit and Town hall meetings in conflicts & war-torn countries in Africa.

Please join me in working towards a peaceful & prosperous Africa.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the WAELE/ARCELFA website.

Thank You, God Bless

OTUNBA DR BASIRAT NAHIBI – NIASSE. OON

WAELE/ARCELFA. FOUNDER/PRESIDENT