Archive for the 'Gender challenges' Category



Three Women Are Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize

Photo courtesy of: Ahmed Jadallah/Scanpix

And the winners are:  Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni rights campaigner Tawakkul Karman (pictured).

All of them have been recognized by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

Congratulations to Ellen, Leymah and Tawakkul.  We are very proud of you and thank you for the important work you do on behalf of women throughout our world.

Read more here.

Photo of:  Tawakkul Karman

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

 

 

Strengthening Women’s Role in the Global Economy

A great speech by a senior state department official on how to unlock a vital, undertapped resource in our world:  women.

She also makes the point that at the beginning of the 21st century, we are entering what she calls the participation age where every individual regardless of gender or other characteristics is poised to be a contributing and valued member of the global marketplace. But in order for that to happen, we have to remove the structural and social impediments stacking the deck against them, and particularly against women. We don’t have a person to waste, and we certainly don’t have …

Read:  Background Briefing on Women in the Global Economy

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

Raising the Role of Women In International Trade

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) along with several multinational companies are launching the Women in Trade Initiative to increase the participation of Pakistani women in the international trade sector.

“This initiative is part of the United States’ commitment to the people of Pakistan to support women’s empowerment,” said Dr Marilyn Wyatt, wife of US Ambassador Cameron Munter, at the launch of the Women in Trade Initiative, said a press release received …”

Learn more here.

Photo credit (bottom):  U.S. Department of State Blog

Posted by: Laurel Delaney

Give Women Equal Opportunity in India

It’s that pure and simple.  Let’s get it done.

“India’s growth rate can make a quantum jump of 4.2 per cent if women in the country get equal opportunity in the core sectors of the economy,” Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Secretary-General of UN Women — the newly created body tasked with ensuring welfare of women — said here.

According to a report, Progress of the World’s Women, it says:

Quoting a survey this year by industry chamber ASSOCHAM: 70 per cent of women in India are not aware of their rights as laid out in the Constitution.

It said close to 63 per cent of women in India, between the ages of 15 and 49, lack autonomy in their house which “defined as having no say in any of the vital everyday decisions like own health care, large household purchases, purchases for daily needs and visits to family or relatives.”

Read more here.

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

Irish Ambassadors for Female Entrepreneurship Encourage More Women to Start a Business

Minister for Small Business John Perry TD encourages more women to start their own business.  Irish Ambassadors for Female Entrepreneurship (Facebook page) have been appointed by the European Commission to promote and encourage more women to become entrepreneurs and set up businesses.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report for Ireland 2010 noted that fewer women than men are active as entrepreneurs.  Perry said:

“It is therefore vitally important that we provide the right environment to foster the development of this untapped female entrepreneurial talent across all sectors of Irish business.”

Learn more here.

Photo credit:  Irish Ambassadors for Female Entrepreneurship – inauguration event in Stockholm featuring the Ambassadors.

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

How To Build Entrepreneurship Abroad

Lorraine Hariton (pictured) has more than 25 years of experience in the information technology sector in Silicon Valley.

From 2003 to 2005, Hariton served as President and CEO of Apptera. She served as the CEO of Beatnik from 1999 to 2002. She also spent 15 years at IBM serving in a number of executive capacities. Hariton is Chairman Emeritus of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives. She has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Mathematical Sciences from Stanford University.

Hariton is Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs, Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

The mission of the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs (www.state.gov/e/eeb; EEB) is to promote economic security and prosperity in the United States and abroad.

Learn what Hariton’s goals are for women worldwide and the opportunities she hopes to afford them here.

Photo credit here.

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

The Difference Between a Burqa and a Niqab and Why It’s Important

Burqa

Niqab

Fascinating piece — worthy of a read to merely understand the difference between a burqa (top) and a niqab (bottom) and the origin of the ‘faceless Muslim woman.’

So why all the fuss, on both sides of this question, about a tiny minority of women who wear odd-looking dress in a country (France) that is the world’s creative headquarters for odd-looking fashion? One explanation is cultural.  In French culture, the eyes are supposed to meet in public, to invite a conversation or just to exchange a visual greeting with a stranger. Among Muslims, the eyes of men and women are not supposed to meet, even by chance, and especially not in public or between strangers.

Read the entire article, “The French, the Veil and the Look.“  And by the way, France is not welcoming the burqa.

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

Half of Global Growth Comes From the Developing World

From the United States, a report published by The Wall Street Journal on women’s progress in the workplace.

A Global View

A quote from World Bank President Bob Zoellick:

We estimate there are about three billion people working in the world. About 40% of those are women, so about 1.2 billion. This is going to be increasingly important, because as we’ve seen in this downturn, about half of the global growth comes from the developing world. Earlier you mentioned a phrase that we developed—gender equality is smart economics. Not only is it fair and right to give women equal opportunity, but we’re getting increasing evidence from studies around the world about what a difference economic empowerment makes.

Another interesting quote from Wei Sun Christianson of Morgan Stanley:

You see more and more women entering into sectors such as telecommunications, technology and finance. But there is a glass ceiling, or a bamboo ceiling, in China. You see very few women on the top.

However, there’s one interesting phenomenon. With the government encouraging the development of the private sector, you see private business and family business thriving. That’s already one-third of the Chinese economy, and 21% of these entrepreneurs are women.

Global entrepreneurship continues to be a viable option for women.  That’s why we’re here!

Photo credit here (L-R:  Robert Zoellick of World Bank Group, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Wei Sun Christianson of Morgan Stanley)

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

Dare to Start Your Own International Business

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon writes a powerful opinion piece for CNN:  “Why think small when it comes to women in poor nations?“  I love this commentary for the truth it speaks.  Please make sure you read it.  Here’s an uplifting snippet:

And in Afghanistan, famous for being among the toughest environments for women to thrive, I met a young woman who dared to turn down a well-paying job offer filled with perks from an international aid organization in order to start a business consultancy that she believed would create jobs for herself and many others. “If I go and work with an international agency, they will give me a very high salary, but it is just for me and my family, it will not support other people,” Kamila Sidiqi told me at the time, in 2005. “If I work to start my own company, I will train a lot of people, I will help a lot of people.”

Start your own international business to lift your country out of poverty and into a thriving economic nation — one proud of women entrepreneurs who create jobs and help their countries grow.

And thank you Gayle for writing this piece!  Readers … please promise me you will take time out of your busy schedule to visit Gayle’s site.  We welcome your comments!

Photo credit here.

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

10 Myths On Why Women Don’t Go Abroad

Stacie Nevadomski Berdan dispells ten myths on why women don’t go abroad.

First, here’s a snippet of an interesting fact:

According to a recent study by ANZ recruitment agency Hydrogen Group, women who want to further their career should work overseas.  All of the 2,637 professional women surveyed in Global Professionals on the Move 2011 said they would recommend working abroad.

Read the entire article:

Women Move Up by Moving Overseas

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney

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