Women in power make decisions differently – Melinda Gates
By Anne-Marie Bissada
Every year, the world marks International Women's Day. But do we still need such a day to advance women's rights? Melinda Gates talks to The Africa Report about why there's still much work ahead of us, and why we should be proud of how far women have come.
Every year, 8 March is recognised as International Women’s Day. The day was officially marked by the United Nations in 1975.
But its roots go back to the labour movement in New York City in 1908, when 15,000 marched its streets demanding the right to vote, better pay and shorter work days. The Socialist Party of America first declared the first National Women’s Day in 1909.
It turned international in 1910 when Clara Zektin, the head of the women’s office of the German Social Democratic Party, suggested it during the Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. It was first observed by Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.
The date eventually moved from 19 March to 8 March and was eventually recognised by the UN in 1975. Starting in 1996, a theme for the day has been announced each year.
More than a hundred years after the first celebration, and the day still is marked by media houses worldwide, along with known leading female trailblazers. Every year, promises are made and advancement is promoted, but another year goes by with little changed because our world still needs to be reminded of such a day.
That’s not to say we haven’t come a long way though.
Melinda Gates, a leading philanthropist, global advocate for women and girls and former general manager of Microsoft tells The Africa Report that despite the need to keep observing the day, much has already changed. “Twenty years ago, presidents and prime minister didn’t really even talk about girls or adolescent girls. So finally, you’re seeing presidents and prime ministers show up and recognise the importance of not just women, but girls. And we are seeing over time more commitment to that and more dollars finally flowing in that direction. Is it enough? Definitely not. But is it a start compared to where we were before? For sure.”
Covid-19 the catalyst
I think leaders are finally waking up to this, that the women’s issue is no longer a side issue or a nice-to-do issue. It is the central issue…So I think you’re going to start to see more action by governments even than we’ve seen in the past.
Speaking from her home in Seattle, she says the Covid-19 pandemic has placed a magnifying lens on the true situation for women: they they have not yet achieved a real form of parity with men.
“I think this unpaid work that women do, that’s the first place that needs to be addressed. This child caregiving or caregiving crisis where we’re taking care of the elderly, we’re taking care of a sick family member, we’re taking care of children. Governments are finally waking up to that and saying, ‘my gosh, that’s what’s pushing and keeping women out of the labour force.’ And so you’re starting to see governments pass better policies. You’re seeing some governments start to prop up their childcare sector so a man or a woman have a place to put their young child so they can go off to work.”
The pandemic has seen women drop out of the labour forces “in droves”; so if governments don’t address this by making the necessary investments to get them back into the labour force, then “they’re going to have very slow economic recoveries,” she adds.
So perhaps the pandemic has been a small blessing in disguise in pushing ahead the agenda for gender equality. “I think leaders are finally waking up to this, that the women’s issue is no longer a side issue or a nice-to-do issue. It is the central issue…So I think you’re going to start to see more action by governments even than we’ve seen in the past.”
On the continent
Turning to the African continent, certain countries in recent years have pushed through more forward-thinking policies for women, such as an equal inheritance law in Morocco, the banning of female genital mutilation in Benin, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt, and law reform laws in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Uganda, to name a few.
But many of these reforms or laws have yet to be ratified and implemented. Melinda speaks about the necessary role for civil society and grass roots organisations in these situations after money has been invested.
“We want transparency. We want to know what organisations it went to and at what rate and who’s actually making a difference. […] Unless the money is pulled through and actually spent by credible grassroots organisations or nonprofits on the ground and we actually see women coming out of violent situations or homes without that concrete action, we won’t know whether that money’s flowing and making a difference. And so it’s up to civil society to hold governments accountable.”
One clear example of putting your money where your mouth is South Africa. Melinda refers to a recent trip to the country, just before the pandemic broke out. During her visits with women from various civil society and non-profit groups, she remarked that many of them were commending their government’s efforts.
“And what they were saying is that the South African government was definitely finally putting money in. But, they said it was still just the beginning. But what they were seeing for the first time, [was] the government actually recognising the work that they’ve done and funding for instance, community centres where women could come if they were in a violent situation to actually be able to leave their home and have a safe place to go to.”
Online harassment
In an age of social media and online news, the problem of misinformation remains rampant. Microsoft itself has also been the subject of many accusations of deliberately spreading such fake information. And in the case of women, easy access to vital information can be a both a blessing and curse at the same time.
Perpetuating outdated stereotypes of women online continues to hurt women’s advancement. Online trends such as ‘slut shaming’ are a rampant form of harassment that often goes on without any repercussions from the authorities.
“There’s a dark side that can happen online. And all the things you said, the harassment, the bullying, these ideas coming up against women, the way to push back on that is one for governments to have good regulations on social media as one way, but also for women’s groups [to also insist on regulations],” says Melinda.
She adds: “I am seeing these teen groups pop up en masse in countries across the continent of Africa where girls are getting strong messages from their peers, from an older girl about their body, [and] ways to say no to unsafe sex or no to unwanted violence. And so I think we need far more of those kinds of things being populated online and in person.”
Empowering through business
So those are fantastic things that I’m seeing happen in many different African countries, the recognition of those women entrepreneurs and then doing those various things that help them start and spark their business and keep it up and running.
Having experience managing one of the largest corporations in the world, Melinda agrees that one way to push women to the forefront is through entrepreneurship and skills training.
“Giving them the skills training they need, making sure they’re set up with a sponsor or mentor, and then making sure that they can get that first investment. So often in country after country, women can’t get that first investment made in their business.”
Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, to name a few, are countries that have pushed ahead with initiatives to empower female entrepreneurs.
“So those are fantastic things that I’m seeing happen in many different African countries, the recognition of those women entrepreneurs and then doing those various things that help them start and spark their business and keep it up and running.”
She refers to the tech hub in Nairobi that ensures both women and men have “a place to come in with their tech ideas and have them vetted by other people who had been in the tech space and to give them mentorship and then hook them up to places where they could get money.”
Gender Equality Forum 2021
This year’s Gender Equality Forum will be hosted by France. The forum also has its origins in 1975, when the UN formalised International Women’s Day. The conference focuses on how to advance women globally.
But the UN has made some questionable choices when it comes to supporting women’s rights, such as the election by the UN Economic and Social Council of Saudi Arabia to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2018, along with the election of Iran two times.
In instances like that, women across the world may find it hard to trust the UN to take their cause seriously.
But to that, Melinda says “they’re [the UN] 100% behind those initiatives; those discussions of advancements for women.”
“One of the things they have been doing is making sure that they’re really going out to numerous countries around the world and hearing people’s complaints about what hasn’t worked and what needs to be done and hearing their ideas for what can still be done.”
But she stresses that none of the discussion will go far without holding governments, businesses and citizens to their words.
Other barriers that hold women back are as simple as culture, tradition and religion.
“One of the things that we know that helps is when women are educated and girls are educated, they start to relook at social norms that have been taught to them by the village elder, by sometimes an elderly woman in their family structure or by their religious leader. And so education is one way to create that change for girls and women.”
Female leadership
Women in these positions of power make decisions differently than men do. There are many enlightened men out there, but women still bring a different lens to society.
The year 2021 may have begun in the same rhythm of a Covid-ridden 2020, but it also began with some good news: the election of the first African and first woman as the head of the World Trade Organisation.
The new role for Nigeria’s former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala means she has joined the growing number of women assuming influential leadership positions across the world.
This article was originally published by The Africa Report. [Photo: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren]