Summary. World Economic Forum on the Middle East Dead Sea, Jordan, May Friday 18 May

Transcription

1 Closing the Gender Gap: Branding Women s Leadership in the Middle East Friday 18 May Raghida Dergham, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent and Columnist, Al-Hayat, USA and moderator for the session, began the discussion by outlining the purposes of the session. Many studies, including the World Economic Forum s Gender Gap Report, show that the Arab region has invested heavily in education in the last ten years - as a whole the region s literacy rates has increased from 35 percent (1990) to 51 percent (2000) in ten years. But clearly countries in the region are not reaping the benefits of this investment since the economic participation rates of the region s women are still the lowest in the world. The session thus set out to address three main questions: 1) There is general agreement that there is a gender gap in the region (particularly in terms of economic participation) and that this is a waste of human resources. How big is the gap? Why are educated women not flowing into the workforce? What are the root causes behind the economic gender gap? 2) What role can popular culture and branding whether by educational institutions, governments, private sector, or media play in changing perceptions so that it becomes acceptable for individual women themselves and society as a whole for women to be economically empowered? 3) When we talk about branding, it is important to understand what this means in reality: who does the branding? why? how? Saadia Zahidi, Head of the Women Leaders Programme of the World Economic Forum, presented results from the World Economic Forum s Gender Gap Report 2006, which ranks 115 countries according to the size of their gender gap. The purpose of the Report is to identify the existing strengths and weakness of countries, create a benchmarking tool for policymakers and provide the opportunity to learn from successful countries through best practice exchange. The Report shows that Sweden, having closed over 81% of the gender gap is the highest ranking country, while the Arab countries all fall within the lower half of the rankings. Yet there is diversity in the performance of these countries, suggesting the possibility of learning from the successful ones. Kuwait, having closed 63% of the gap, is the highest ranking country in the Arab World and Yemen, having closed only 46% of the gap, is the lowest ranking country in the region. Lubna S. Olayan, Chief Executive Officer, Olayan Financing Company, Saudi Arabia began by agreeing that great progress has been made on women s education in the region. Yet, she pointed out, as the average literacy rate for women in the region is still only a little above 50%, women s education is not even close to the level or quality that it should be at. At the moment, it is simply not good enough to allow women to enter the workforce in large numbers. She also highlighted the need for political empowerment, using the example of Kuwait where, in May 2005, women received the right to vote as well as the role of civil society in empowering women at the grassroots, pointing out that currently civil society organizations are practically non-existent in the region. Finally, based on her own experiences, she advocated the need for quiet and steady change in countries such as Saudi Arabia where subtle approaches are likely to be far more successful than unsubtle ones. Ms. Olayan leads changes in her own company, which was the first to employ women in Saudi Arabia and continues to hire them in increasingly greater numbers. Mary Robinson, President, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, USA highlighted the power of numbers. Recalling her own experience in the Irish parliament as an example, Ms. Robinson argued that a critical mass of women is needed in positions of power in order to influence policies. She also stressed the importance of images, noting the example of Sheikha Lubna al Qasimi, Minister of Economy, UAE and how her lead role during the media-intense Dubai ports discussions helped re-brand the image of Arab women in the Western world as well in the Arab region itself. Suhair Al Ali, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, emphasized the need for working within one s own area of influence to bring about change, using as an example the gender unit created by her in her own ministry. Currently, the ministry is carrying out a gender audit. She also stated her belief that affirmative action is essential. Jordan has put in place a quota of 20% for women in the upcoming municipal elections, in addition to existing quotas for women for its cabinet, parliament and senate. She noted that Her Majesty Queen Rania has convened a conference of women leaders in Jordan to discuss the gender gap in Jordan.

2 Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, noted that while the fact that almost 50% of the population in the Middle East is under eighteen poses certain challenges for the region, it is also an opportunity to change images among the young women and men. She also observed that in many countries while the equality laws may be just, the personal status laws often undermine women. The moderator then opened up the discussion, calling upon the roundtable participants for practical, actionable suggestions for catalyzing change in the region. The first suggestion was based on the role of media in changing perceptions to empower women. Randa Fouad, Chairman, Arab Media Forum for Environment and Development stated that media has a social responsibility to use its power to promote women s rights. She noted that most media in the Arab world focuses only on women in powerful decisionmaking positions and while this holds enormous inspirational value for many, she suggested that it is also important to reach out to other women and to create more awareness by highlighting rural women and the opportunities and challenges that come their way. Laura Liswood, Secretary-General, Council of Women World Leaders, USA called upon the roundtable participants to use the benchmarking tool and country profiles provided in the Gender Gap Report as a catalyst for change within their own spheres of influence. She was encouraged by the example of the creation of the gender unit by Minister Suhair Al Ali at the Ministry of Planning and Cooperation of Jordan and suggested that other participants could use the analysis provided by the Report to create change within their own companies and organizations or by holding national-level conferences to examine the causes and discuss solutions to the gender gap within their own countries. Mona Mourshed, Principal, McKinsey & Company, United Arab Emirates, commented that girls outperform boys in primary education and are at parity with men in tertiary education in many gulf states. Yet, the workplace is where we fall off a cliff. She believes that many of these highly educated women choose not to join the workplace. She suggests that one practical way to start changing this trend would be to start giving university women more internship opportunities so that when the time comes they actively choose to join the job market, rather than rejecting something they don t know. Nima Abu Wardeh, Presenter, Middle East Business Report, BBC World, United Arab Emirates, suggested that companies in the region should consider holding an open day for parents of current and future employees. This will help dispel fears of the unknown among parents and make them more willing to allow their daughters to go to the workplace. She also highlighted the difficulties involved in maintaining work-life balance. The moderator broached the subject of quotas as one possible method of correcting gender imbalances at the highest levels of leadership with specific examples from Norway and France. Norway has imposed a minimum 40% quota of each sex on state-owned company boards and the new French President Nicholas Sarkozy has followed through on his campaign promise to establish gender-balance in his new cabinet. However, Orit Gadiesh, Chairman, Bain & Company, USA and Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum suggested caution in the use of quotas in a public way, as only one negative performance in a quota group can be detrimental to the collective opportunities and images of other women. Panellists also discussed the pros and cons of two approaches to women s empowerment: quiet, steady progress or a direct approach. They concluded that the approach must be tailored to suit the societal context: the more direct Beirut approach when the culture and norms of a society will render it successful and the quieter, backdoor approach in countries where upfront actions are likely to lead to regression rather than progress. The moderator then called upon panellists to make brief closing remarks. Mary Robinson advocated political empowerment of women as a necessary condition for their progress. Ann Veneman was in favor of changing the attittudes of youth to secure a better future. Minister Suhair Al Ali highlighted the importance of the perceptions women have of themselves, stating that nothing predetermines our abilities. Finally, Lubna Olayan noted that there is often a lack of support for women by other women and called upon the roundtable participants to help change this pattern. The panellists and roundtable participants then collectively showed their support for complementing private discussions within the Women Leaders group with sessions in the public programme at next year s in order to reach out to a broader audience.

3 Summary of Action Items The session participants could use the rankings and country profiles provided in the Gender Gap Report to catalyze change within their own spheres of influence companies, countries or civil society organizations. (For those who were unable to take a copy of the Report, it may be downloaded free of charge at One of the purposes of the session was to encourage best practice exchange between companies, countries and organizations. Roundtable participants could reach out to each other to learn from one another the various strategies that have been successful and those that have not and adapting this information for their own use. Companies should consider actively providing more internship opportunities to university women to increase these women s awareness of the prospects offered by the workplace and hence increase the chances of recruiting this human capital in the future. Companies should consider holding open days for parents, in order to help change perceptions and dispel the concerns of parents about sending their daughters to the workplace. Media should consider focusing on women in rural areas as well as women in decision-making position, thus reaching out to women in all walks of life. Participants should continue to advocate quality education for women in the region as there is still a long way to go on this issue despite recent much-publicized progress. More support should be provided to grassroots, local movements to complement top-down efforts. Participants should consider the role of affirmative action in their own organizations as part of the efforts to increase women s participation in economic and political leadership. More gender-related issues should be addressed at public sessions in addition to the private meetings at the World Economic Forum events to ensure dissemination to a broader audience.

4 Session Participants Maha Abdel Majeed, General Manager, IP Matters, Jordan Nima Abu Wardeh, Presenter, Middle East Business Report, BBC World, United Arab Emirates Zika Abzuk-Darnell, Manager, Public Benefit Investment, Europe and Emerging Markets, Cisco, Israel Lisa Anderson, Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, USA Salwa El Antary, General Manager, Research Division, National Bank of Egypt Randa S. Ayoubi, Chief Executive Officer, Rubicon, Jordan Reem Badran, Chief Executive Officer, Kuwaiti Jordanian Holding, Jordan Sima Bahous, President, The Higher Mecia Council, Jordan Randa Abousleiman Baladi, Managing Partner, Abousleiman & Partners, Lebanon Suzan Gila Benmayor, Columnist, Hurriyet Daily, Turkey Micheline Bossaert, Senior Executive Vice-President and Director, International Department, Suez, France Sabine Christiansen, Chief Executive TV21; Executive Producer and Talk Show Host, ARD, Germany Dalal Al Dousari, Vice-President, Investment, Amwal International Investment Company, Kuwait Shereen G. El Feki, Presenter and Reporter, People & Power, Al Jazeera International, United Kingdom Randa Fouad, President, The Arab Media Forum for Environment and Development, Egypt Orit Gadiesh, Chairman, Bain & Company, USA; Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum Maria D. Gentile, President, Prodit Engineering, Italy Daniela Gressani, Vice-President, Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank, Washington DC Nadine Hawa, Presenter and Producer, CNBC Arabia, United Arab Emirates Aysegul Ildeniz, Regional Director, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Intel Corporation, Turkey Hind Aboud Kabawat, Attorney and Director, Foreign Affairs, The Syrian Public Relations Society, Syria Stella Kenway, Founder and Managing Director, Zanoubia Communications Limited, United Kingdom Roula Khalaf, Editor, Middle East, The Financial Times, United Kingdom Hala Lattouf, Executive Director, World Links Arab Region, Jordan Barron Lozano, Director, Global Government Relations, CA, USA Tamara Malhas, Managing Director, Mashrek International School, Jordan Carolyn B. Maloney, Congresswoman from New York (Democrat), 14th District, USA Rawya Mansour, Member of the Board, Mansour Group, Egypt Ola Masri, Managing Director, Global Village for Exhibitions, Jordan Maggie Mitchell Salem, Director, Programs for Middle East/North Africa, IFES, USA Hadia H. Mostafa, Senior Writer, Business Today, Egypt Mona Mourshed, Principal, McKinsey & Company, United Arab Emirates Smadar Perry, Editor, Middle East, Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel Serene Al Shirawi, Manager, Business Development, Olayan Europe, United Kingdom Claire Spencer, Head, Middle East Programme, Chatham House, United Kingdom Jumana Twal Hinnawi, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Bidaya Corporate Communications, Jordan Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director, Middle East and North Africa Division, Human Rights Watch, USA Cleopatra van de Winkel, Regional Director, EMEA, APCO Worldwide, USA Anja Wittrup, Director, Corporate Affairs, Bain & Company, Belgium Panellists Suhair Al Ali, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Lubna S. Olayan, Chief Executive Officer, Olayan Financing Company, Saudi Arabia Mary Robinson, President, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, USA Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York Moderated by Raghida Dergham, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent and Columnist, Al Hayat, USA

5 Selected Figures from the Global Gender Gap Report 2006: Relationship between Global Competitiveness Scores and Gender Gap scores Global Competitiveness scores (1-7 scale) United States Denmark Finland Sw eden Iceland Norway 5.00 United Arab Emirates India China Brazil 4.00 Pakistan Philippines 3.00 Chad Gender Gap scores (0.00 to scale) Global trends (115 countries) HEALTH AND SURVIVAL ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION AND OPPORTUNITY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT Figure 3. Regional performance on Global Gender Gap Index Middle- East and Arab World Sub- Saharan Africa Asia Latin America and Carribean Eastern Europe** North America Europe 15*** Oceania