With more than 60% of Aurum’s senior and professional level leadership positions filled by women, we are bringing the International Women’s Day theme- Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow- to life.
In recognition of our meaningful contribution to gender empowerment in South Africa, Aurum was nominated for two Standard Bank Top Women Awards. The organisation was a finalist in the Top Women Empowered Company in Health and Pharmaceuticals and the Top Women Empowered Company in Youth Development categories.
Outstanding leadership
The annual awards honour outstanding leadership, inspiration, vision, and innovation, in organisations that play a role in advancing women to the forefront. Aurum achieved third place in the Top Women Empowered Company in Health and Pharmaceuticals Award.
Dr Ntombifikile Mtshali, Aurum SA Deputy CEO, said empowering women is vital for the success of the organisation, particularly one which has a workforce made up mainly of women.
“To be in the top three companies empowering women, is testament to the strides we have made in creating an enabling environment for women to thrive in their areas of expertise, we are very proud of that,” added Mtshali.
Youth empowerment
Aurum was also shortlisted for its affiliate Youth Health Africa (YHA), a leading African youth empowerment organisation harnessing the healthcare workforce of the future.
According to Statistics South Africa, the youth unemployment rate in South Africa was at an alarmingly high of 66.5% in the third quarter of 2021.
YHA works to tackle youth unemployment through a one-year skills development programme which places almost 1000 young internships each year, in six provinces; Gauteng, North West, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Free State. The interns work in more than 1000 communities on HIV testing campaigns, adolescent girls and young women prevention programmes, youth testing teams, adolescent and youth friendly services support and digital media campaigns. During this internship, young people are trained and gain work experience in a wide range of entry-level roles in healthcare facilities.
Top women
“YHA seeks to achieve socio-economic development through addressing two major challenges affecting the country, namely extremely high levels of youth unemployment and an understaffed and overburdened public health sector while encouraging young people to look after their own health. We are honoured to have been shortlisted in the Youth Development category at the Standard Bank Top Women Awards in recognition of our contribution to address these challenges,” said Farai Mzungu, YHA Chief Operating Officer.
YHA also boasts a senior management team and board made up of more than 70% women. They achieve a 97% retention on the internship and more than half are absorbed into jobs. More than 83% of those hired after the internship, are young women. “As women who already have a seat at the table, let’s not aspire to be unicorns, let’s rather create a space for other women,” added Mzungu.
