ET WOMEN’S FORUM The event, a medley of diversity and
uniqueness.
An eclectic mix of distinct voices converged in
Mumbai on Friday as some of the brightest minds came together to chart out a
road map to unleash the power of half a billion—the women of India. At the
inaugural ET Women’s Forum, presented by Facebook, global influencers and
champions of woman’s empowerment held out the promise of change with their
stories and inspired women to become part of the global and national
decisionmaking.
The confluence of select voices with their own
stories of conviction and courage outlined how women at work, in sports, in
art, in politics, in the development sector, on company boards, as
entrepreneurs, in the family business, can get themselves heard better to
become equal stakeholders in an unequal world.
A worrisome statistic caught the attention of many a
speaker at the forum. The World Economic Forum in its Global Gender Gap Report
2017 said that some of the most challenging gender gaps remain in the economic
sphere. At the current rate of change, closing the economic gender gap will now
take 217 years.
“To my mind, that is 216 too many,” said Cherie
Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, in her inaugural
address at the forum. Blair said women are so much more than a one-dimensional
statistic, adding that the world is at a tipping point in the history of women.
“India has a precious opportunity that it is
overlooking and underutilising. And that opportunity is the boundless potential
of Indian women as business owners, job creators, and leaders in their
community,” Blair told the audience.
The speakers and panellists who laid the groundwork
for tapping the power of half a billion included Andrea Jung, president and
CEO, Grameen America; Annette Dixon, World Bank vice-president, South Asia;
Fawzia Koofi, Afghan MP and women’s rights activist; family business scions;
startup founders; women politicians; social change agents; women in cinema,
sports; trailblazers and outliers.
Across the wide array of fields, there was optimism
even when the statistics looked grim.
Talking about women on company boards, Jung said,
“Having been the only woman on a board for years, one woman on boards is not
enough--there is strength in numbers.” Something that found resonance with
former Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman M Damodaran, who
advocated having at least two women on each company board, at least one of whom
should be independent.
Dixon talked about ways to remove barriers for women
in the labour market as this was an opportune time to revisit and reform
outdated legislation and policies that act as deterrents. “Fostering the creation
of better jobs, providing support for the child and elder care, and ensuring
mobility to and from work can remove significant structural barriers for women
to access employment,” she said.
A recurring theme at the forum was women learning to
lead the charge and supporting other women when it came to dealing with the
issues they face. Be it reservation for women in politics, finding mentors at
work, seeking funding for their startups, empowering other women as leaders.
The entrepreneurial ecosystem needed more women role
models, said Rajan Anandan, India managing director and vice-president,
Southeast Asia, Google.
Blair exhorted women to think inclusively, act
inclusively and enlist male allies. Jung spurred women to fire themselves on
Friday evening and rehire themselves on Monday morning. This would allow women
to reinvent themselves and it would act as a catalyst for that reinvention.
Women are born with an extra guilt gene that needs to be fixed, said Shobana
Kamineni, president, Confederation of Indian Industry, who spoke on the complex
yet important issue of ‘Breaking the Boys’ Club’.
For the audience and participants, the event, whose
celebration partner was Diageo, was a medley of diversity and uniqueness. Such
as when Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar put forth her perspective between the
sessions on women entrepreneurs and getting women on boards.
Tor A Dahlstrom, consul, deputy head of mission,
Norwegian consulate, Mumbai, and one of the few male audience members at the
event, said, “It was a very interesting session which threw a lot of light on
Indian society in general. It was an educational experience of sorts for me.”
Anjali Verma, a member of the audience said: “I have
worked in India and across the Middle East and Canada but I found this event to
be unique and the only one of its kind. This forum can go on to be a game
changer in the future.”
For panelist Aanchal Thakur, who is an alpine skier,
it was all about drawing inspiration. “We got to know each other, and we got
inspired by stories of people across spheres,” she said--words that echoed the
underlying sentiment of the daylong gathering.
Saumya.Bhattacharya
ET19MAR18
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