SSASCGOC, Five T’s Host World Pulse Founder

Funmi Ogundare

The Senior Staff Association of Stationary Corporations and government Owner Companies (SSASCGOC) Voice of Nigeria (VON) branch in collaboration with Tosin Turns Trash to Treasure (five T’s), recently hosted the founder of World Pulse, Jensine Larsen to enable her meet face to face with the women in various countries and hear their stories and how their reports have been creating impact on women .

Speaking at the 2018 midyear get together with theme , ‘Harnessing the Power of Digital Technology’ the Director-General, VON, Mr. Osita Okechukwu expressed delight about the power of technology which has brought about immediacy in the flow of information and saves time.

According to him, “the power of digital technology is fuelling an information revolution that is sweeping away the limitations of analogue technology. Because digital technology is networkable -mostly connected to the internet, it has changed the broadcaster- audience relationship. Digital technology has increased the means to information access.”

With the advent of technology, Okechukwu who was represented by the Assistant General Secretary, SSASCGOC, Mr. Chris Unakpo, affirmed that information is no longer limited to the radio, television or newspaper but on the go with social media, adding, “ you indeed have access to information anytime, all time and anywhere, all you need is your internet based terminals such as laptops, IPads, android and tabs.”

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), Mrs. Adejoke Orelope Adefulire, said the power of technology in changing the future cannot be overemphasised as people get empowered through it, adding, “We can’t overemphasize how technology will shape the future.

“I think the earlier the better for everybody no matter your diversity or category, it is important that you embrace technology for the future.”

In an interview with THISDAY, the founder of World Pulse, Jensine Larsen who expressed delight about the meeting with the women, said it was about creating a social network of women for a global community and sharing resources about issues to speed up the needed change.

As a young shy girl growing up in the United States of America, she recalled having a dream to impact women around the world saying that this what led to the establishment of World Pulse 15 years ago.

“I started World pulse because I had a dream as a young girl but my parents didn’t put me in school on time in the US. I had a dream to impact women around the world so I became a journalist going around and saw that men, women and children were dying from oil contamination and families were being killed in ethnic cleansing and everywhere I went, the women kept asking me to be their messenger.

“One day I realised that I don’t really have to be a messenger but to share the messages in their own words.”

She said her area of focus over the years has been on empowering women because they are strategic managers who care more about the environment, work on maternal health and other issues pertaining to technology and human right, adding that as they are being empowered, indicators go up which brings about better communities and policies.

On her challenges in bringing women together globally in the last 15 years, the founder said, “one of the challenges is making sure that we have our eyes on the safety and security of lives and so we had to work hard and with careful moderation Another challenge is connecting women across the region from around 190 countries so we had to learn to speak in the languages they will understand. So now we are now training in other languages.”