Women spend 90 percent of their income on their families, economy and education, hence the increase in the number of women entrepreneurs contributing to the social development of the country, according to Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan.

“We need to produce more technology and innovative projects,” Pekcan said on March 9 at an event in the southern province of Antalya.

“We have young women working as engineers, software designers, and graphic designers. We need to direct them, use our resources correctly. We need more female entrepreneurs both for Turkey and to give the women their desired place in society.”

The minister pointed out that female entrepreneurship in Turkey has increased to 34 percent from 23 percent over the last 10 years.

“Indeed, the momentum has been growing rapidly in the last 10 years, but still the OECD average is 51.3 percent. It’s far behind,” said Pekcan.

“I see this as a chance to say that we have a potential of 15-20 percent. Men’s participation in business life is 72 percent. However, there are 130,000 women entrepreneurs and around 820,000 women who have their own businesses. We have 953,000 women managers. In companies where women work in decision-making positions, companies have higher profitability and efficiency. When you look at the rich north European countries, you see that women’s participation in business life reaches 60 and 70 percent. In other words, as the number of women in business life increases, the rate of national income increases in direct proportion.”

Women and young entrepreneurs will be informed on exports incentives, she added.

“We will inform women and young entrepreneurs about how they can benefit from export support. We will try to direct them to the sectors where our women will be successful,” the minister said.

Pekcan said her ministry is open to any kind of demand and suggestions from women, adding: “In addition, in cooperation with women’s NGOs, we have initiated a project to open up to the international market and compete in the market. In this direction, we are ready to provide all kinds of support as our ministry. We will provide export financing support to our companies, which are 51 percent owned by women. For this project, Turk Eximbank has already allocated $200 million dollars and 100 million Turkish Liras. We’re ready, are you?”

Source: Hurriyet Daily news

By Silvana Koch-Mehrin

99 years ago, the World War I ended and the League of Nations was founded. The first Oreo cookie was designed and the pop-up toaster patented. It’s stuff for the history books.

The latest World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report shows that it will take another 99 years for the world to achieve gender-equal political representation if we continue at our current pace.

Having only one woman for every four men in parliaments around the world is a clear indication of how ineffective societies are at tapping into the potential talent of more than 50% of the population. There are, of course, important variations: Nordic countries are the most gender equal, and Rwanda is the world champion for female participation in politics. Arab and Gulf countries, stand at the other end of the spectrum.

UN Women estimates that globally, men represent 77% of parliamentarians, 82% of government ministers, 93% of heads of government and 94% of heads of state. And every time a woman reaches the top of an organization or political party, it makes global headlines. Today, one can name all of the current female country leaders in less than 30 seconds. This trend extends across the private sector and in academia – the greater the seniority, the fewer women.

There are many reasons to care about this imbalance – Achieving gender equality in political participation has both intrinsic and instrumental value. Women in political office prioritize efforts to advance rights, promote equality, and leverage opportunity for women and girls. It’s a matter of human rights and it’s a matter of good governance.  The composition of executives and legislatures also affects the quality of laws and influences the extent of their application. Evidence demonstrates that women leaders are more likely to respond to public needs and tend to cooperate across party lines. Historically, this is not the case for men in power.

Unfortunately, a range of barriers – official and unofficial, formal and informal – limit women’s political participation. The Women Political Leaders Global Forum (WPL) conducted a study on ‘The Female Political Career’. Analysing survey responses from 617 politicians – female and male –from 84 countries, the study was designed to understand the non-legal barriers women face in different phases of the political lifecycle.

The findings tell the same old story – one that applies globally. Women politicians tend to start their careers later, have fewer children, spend more time caring for their families, and arrange their lives to have shorter commutes than their male counterparts. Family commitments continue to constitute a major source of concern among women. “Gender equality begins in our homes,” says Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chair of the African Union (2010-2016) and a member of the WPL advisory board. Another said “three Ms stand in the way of women: money, media and men”.

Women and men also have different levels and types of political support networks. On average, female politicians receive fewer private donations than their male counterparts and rely more heavily on party sponsorship. Media portrayal and voter perceptions of ‘a woman’s place’ cast a longer shadow over women’s decision to run for office and to pursue higher positions.  While both men and women express concern about the many pitfalls of political campaigning, females often experience additional worry around stereotypical discrimination, the difficulty of fundraising, negative advertising, the loss of privacy and not being taken as a serious candidate. This can only change when more women are represented in politics and are seen as equal representatives to their male counterparts.

So what can be done to address these problems? In politics, networks are key. To accelerate their political careers, women need communication, connection and community. WPL aims to increase both the number and the influence of women in political leadership positions, optimising the power of communication and connection to build new communities of knowledge for women political leaders everywhere. Progress happens by convening women political leaders who have the drive and the influence to create positive change.

And this is not just about women. In a flagship campaign, WPL asked male presidents and prime ministers to complete the sentence “We need more women as political leaders because …”. Among the more than 70 respondents, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau explained: “When women engage in the political process, societies thrive and prosper.”

Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile (2014-2018), rightly puts it: “When one woman is a leader, it changes her. When more women are leaders, it changes politics and policies.”

So much has been accomplished in the last 99 years and so much more can be accomplished in the years ahead. But if we are to achieve our ambitious goals and see truly transformative change, we must make a more concerted effort to strengthen women’s political participation at all levels because a woman’s place is in politics.

Silvana Koch-Mehrin, is the President of the Women Political Leaders Global Forum, and had this published at the Political Leaders Global Forum, 2018.

By Donah Mbabazi

Any nation that fails to educate its girls or employ its women and allow them to maximise their potential is doomed to fall behind in the global economy. Imagine if you have a team and you don’t let half the team play, that’s stupid! That makes no sense.– Barack Obama, 44th President of U.S.A on his maiden visit to Kenya in 2015.

For a very long time, women were consigned to the back, especially when it came to key issues, such as decision-making, and this led to infamous narratives like ‘women belong in the kitchen’, a statement that will drive any feminist nutty trying to explain just how wrong that is. 

There has been progress towards the equal representation of men and women in decision-making in the past ten years. According to statistics from UN Women, the percentage of women in parliament has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. As of January 2017, 10 women were serving as Head of State and nine were serving as Head of Government.

Rwanda has, for over a decade, been topping the global list of countries with the most female political parliamentarians. That’s mainly due to the country’s legally set quotas, with the Constitution stipulating that at least thirty per cent (30%) of Deputies in the Lower House of Parliament must be women.

Women in Saudi Arabia voted for the very first time in 2015 and were even allowed to run for public office. So, are women better off staying home to cook and knit? Can they make decisions on what is right for their home, or on a bigger scale, nation?

The latter is evident, with the past couple of strides serving as defining moments for women in the political sphere, with more of them stepping up and assuming key leadership positions.

From Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo serving as the Secretary-General of Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, to Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia’s first female president, to Ilhan Omar, the first Somali American elected to the United States Congress.

What does this mean for the gender equality drive?

Olive Uwamariya, a woman activist, says women shining in big political roles means society is finally accepting that the world cannot be governed by men only.

She emphasises that women’s empowerment cannot be achieved if women are not seated at the table where decisions are made.

“When there are more women in decision making positions, it means we are likely to have laws and policies that benefit women, children and families because women understand the issues families and children face. These policies are also likely to have a positive impact on their lives,” Uwamariya says.

Political participation and representation is also a right, it is not a favour, the woman activist highlights.

“Women make up half of the population so it’s only logical to have them in leadership,” she says.

Amina Umuhoza, a feminist, says a woman assuming a top position in politics is proof that those who thought that women only deserved to be in the kitchen cooking were completely wrong, because women are exceeding expectations, and that is just the beginning.

There are plenty of things that kept women behind, such as gender-based violence and the different cultural stereotypes, Umuhoza points out.

“It is this that stopped our mothers and sisters from dreaming beyond getting married and raising kids. This mentality killed plenty of passion, potential politicians, innovators and change makers,” she says.

The proud feminist is, however, keen on how the world is yet to change, thanks to the evolving traditions that women are happily embracing.

“Things have now changed, women know their rights and they are able to fight for them, this is why we are reaping the fruits. Imagine what an inspiration these women are going to be for the young girls, they are going to grow up watching what their mothers at the forefront are doing,” Umuhoza says.

A man’s view

Iréné Mizero, Chairman and CEO at Mizero Care Organisation, is not a huge supporter of feminism, however, he believes that when it comes to women and leadership, society can always hope for the best because of the natural abilities women possess.

“Women have this natural thing for transparency and persistence; these two qualities are relevant when it comes to contributing to the changes we want to see in society,” Mizero says.

He adds, “Having top female leaders is a great moment for the world to test its innovations and creativity towards solving the problems that are existing in society. We look forward to testing those remedies that women have on the tray, and there is nothing to fear because Rwanda is proof of the positive changes that women have built.”

Mizero goes on to applaud the Rwandan and Ethiopian Governments for holding the flag high when it comes to women political representation, saying that this means that doors are open for women and that there is a significant change in societal attitudes, thinking and rules of engagement between women and men.

“When women are at the forefront in key decision making positions, it increases innovative solutions to governance and helps to tackle problems that women face, such as sexual harassment and gender-based violence,” he notes.

“Women leaders are capable of bringing the change society wants. The world should replicate Rwanda and Ethiopia’s approach because it is proving to be successful,” Mizero says.

Why a woman has a place in politics

Studies show higher numbers of women in parliament generally contribute to stronger attention to women’s issues. Women’s political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy. It facilitates women’s direct engagement in public decision-making and is a means of ensuring better accountability to women. When more women hold top positions in politics, everyone benefits.

Bertin Ganza Kanamugire, a gender activist, says the changing face of society is enabling women to acknowledge their ability and the full transformation of women’s capacity.

Having women in these top positions gives them value and helps them to unveil their potential, Kanamugire says, noting that it was the wrong beliefs and fixed mind-set that society had on women that held them back.

With women in higher political positions, Kanamugire says other women are well represented and the challenges they face can be advocated for.

“When women challenge themselves by assuming top political roles, it helps them realise that they can also do what they never thought they would. Men, on the other hand, realise that women are no lower than them,” Kanamugire says.

An article published on the website of Women Deliver, a global advocate that champions gender equality, shows that achieving gender equality in political participation has both intrinsic and instrumental value.

Women in political office prioritise efforts to advance rights, promote equality, and leverage opportunity for women and girls. It’s a matter of human rights and it’s a matter of good governance, the article reads.

It goes on to explain that the composition of executives and legislatures also affects the quality of laws and influences the extent of their application. Evidence demonstrates that women leaders are more likely to respond to public needs and tend to cooperate across party lines. Historically, this is not the case for men in power.

“To accelerate their political careers, women need communication, connection and community. There is need to increase both the number and the influence of women in political leadership positions, optimising the power of communication and connection to build new communities of knowledge for women political leaders everywhere. Progress happens by convening women political leaders who have the drive and the influence to create positive change,” the article reads.

Adapted from Rwanda’s Leading Daily, The New Times.