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WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM 2010 - DAVOS
2,500
leaders from business, government and civil society are in Davos for the World
Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The theme is a call to action for
decision-makers to use the opportunity of the five-day Meeting to "Improve
the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild". Leaders will
participate in over 200 working sessions on topics including Haiti, the
Millennium Development Goals, the environment and the economy.
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Gender
Issues Must Move to Heart of Davos Agenda - World Economic Forum
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A gender-mindful approach should fuel the discourse and agenda at the World Economic Forum, which starts today in Davos, Switzerland, says Roxanne Mankin Cason. This change is possible, as there are people at the forum qualified to lead a new conversation.
(WOMENSENEWS)--Many of the world's most powerful leaders are now gathering in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual World Economic Forum, which starts today and ends Jan. 31. For years, the gathering was almost exclusively male and its discussions lacked consideration of the gender angle.
But change is more possible than ever and it is time for the World Economic Forum to move gender issues to the heart of its agenda.
Despite the lack of gender issues on past agendas, ironically the forum's annual Global Gender Gap report has become a trusted source of information on progress made--or the lack thereof--by the world's nations towards gender parity. Its premise is that a nation's well-being is correlated to the status of women. One has only to look at the top of the report's rankings, dominated by Scandinavian countries, to see the connection. At the bottom of the 2009 list: Yemen.
The discourse at the forum itself, however, hasn't been focused enough on the undervalued asset, in terms of human capital, represented by women and girls. Last year, during a Davos conversation on the collapse of Lehman Brothers, an investment bank, it was agreed that the 2008 economic crisis might have been averted had the firm been "Lehman Brothers and Sisters."
There is much more to say, though.
As this year's program explores its theme, "Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild," perhaps another word should be added: Reframe.
How to Reframe the
Discussion
What topics might a reframed discussion include? Here are a few suggestions:
- On the economy: Discussion of the global financial
crisis at Davos could be informed by a recent report from the New
York-based National Council of Research on Women. It asserts that women
tend "to be more consistent in managing investments, to examine more
conflicting data when making investment decisions and to be more
methodical." Far short of critical mass, some reports indicate women
currently manage only 3 percent of the trillions invested in hedge funds.
- On global development: Those in Davos should heed
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's January 6 speech on gender. In it she
acknowledged that "women and girls are one of the world's greatest
untapped resources," adding that, "the United States is taking
steps to put women front and center in our development work." She
characterized women as "those most responsible for growing the
world's food, caring for the world's sick and raising the world's children."
Clearly she knows the enormity of the problem--and the opportunity for
real solutions.
- On global stability and security: The evidence
continues to grow for the link between gender equity and a nation's
stability. Exxon Mobil has invested significantly in leadership, education
and financial literacy for women and girls in Africa. Their work includes
Ishrak, a program supporting Egyptian girls' education in which I am proud
to be involved. The results have been dramatic--fathers who previously
insisted on keeping their daughters home are now bursting with pride in
their daughters' achievements and seeing the girls as valued assets.
- On women's political leadership: Although men still
dominate, glimmers of change abound. One example: the lower house of
parliament in Rwanda, a nation driven by conflict, is 55 percent female,
the highest in the world. These Rwandan women, Liberian President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf and other female leaders provide a laboratory for the
positive change that's possible when women achieve critical mass in
political leadership. Former U.S. Ambassador Swanee Hunt has for years,
through her inclusive security work--where women from opposing sides in
conflict areas are brought together for discussion and training--advanced
women's leadership in 40 conflict areas around the world, including Rwanda
and Liberia.
Issues
Defy Easy Solutions
How do we
consider these and other vital issues, such as sex trafficking? It isn't easy.
Christine Grumm, CEO of the global Women's Funding Network, cites a term from
the field of social and technological innovation in describing these
interconnected issues: "the wicked problem," one that defies easy
solutions.
Isobel Coleman, writing in the current issue of Foreign Affairs about Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's groundbreaking book "Half the Sky," reminds us that the fundamental challenge around gender bias is cultural. "Many people in the West," she says, "too often ignore the problems confronting women in other parts of the world by dismissing, or even condoning, the oppressive practices there as those of a different culture." It is safe to say this mindset has been present in Davos.
That is changing, however, and there are those at Davos who are eminently qualified to lead the gathering in a new direction. The Gates Foundation, Exxon Mobil, Ernst and Young, Goldman Sachs, the Nike Foundation and many others are seasoned in integrating gender considerations into the collective conversation. If only others who are present could keep in mind their mothers, sisters, wives, daughters and granddaughters--and extrapolate that awareness into their public thinking. The possibilities are positively breathtaking.
A gender-mindful approach should permeate the discourse at Davos. Let's reframe, rethink redesign and rebuild.
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