Fast Forward to a better Future
The book Fast Forward presents arguments as to how women will be the key to this century’s greatest achievement. It outlines many of the myriad problems faced by them and initiatives that are helping to solve the problem.
The author Melane Verveer was US ambassador at large for women issue and Kim Azzarelli is the chair of Cornell law school’s Avon center for women and justice.
A few decades ago the statements like “women should not vote or drive cars & God knows they don’t belong in politics” were a common talk. Such sentiments still prevail in minority, but the world is changing for good.
We have living examples like Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton and Christine Legarde trying to level the playing field.
About a billion women today are ready to enter the economy. In 2014 US had 9 million women-owned business that employed 7.9 million workers and made 1.4 trillion dollars. The influx of women has changed the socio-economic and political landscape bringing a positive change for themselves and those associated.
Data shows that correlation between the success of an organization and female leadership. Fortune 500 companies with 3 or more female board members have a 50% higher equity return than those with all-male board. The inclusion of women in the leadership position is a positive trend and is only growing from here.
The harsh reality in most countries still is that women are considered inferior and deprived of taking competent and challenging roles.
The mistreatment and subjugation has many forms — sexual violence, discrimination, trafficking, child marriage, and sex-slavery. These norms are prevalent even in western countries. Over 30% of American women have suffered from some form of violence or the other. Conditions are worse than these, where 75% of all women in Niger were married before their 18th birthday.
Motions like US Violence Against Women Act of 1994, organizations such as Girls not Brides are up to the rescue.
In the US only 5% of CEOs and 3.1% of board chairs are women. There’s a “glass ceiling” — an invisible and unofficial barrier that stands between women and company’s top roles.
F500s with strong female senior partners are between 18–69 % more profitable than other F500s in the same industry.
The author argues to have more women representation in middle management to foster greater innovation and inspiration. Bar Perez, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Coca-Cola argues that groundbreaking ideas come from all levels of the company and not just upper management.
Shifting focus towards the bottom of the pyramid shows that women account for 70% of the global population that lives in poverty. Millions of impoverished female farmers, garment factory workers toil virtually for no pay, with their life and well-being constantly under threat.
Microcredits is one solution to help these underprivileged women. Grameen Bank in India offers microcredits for as low as $27. It has distributed $ 16 mill to female entrepreneurs while making huge returns for itself.
Avon, the beauty giant has started initiatives like Avon ladies, where females not only sell the product but spread awareness about health, domestic violence, and other pressing issues.
The multiplier effect is a marvelous phenomenon, it is a chain reaction that leads to empowerment of women by those already empowered. Helena Merrissey, the CEO of Newton Investment Management has founded the 30% Club, which aims to increase the number of female board members to 30% in FTSE-100 companies.
Gates Foundation and Coca-Cola started a joint project called Nurture, this initiative provided 53000 farmers in Uganda and Kenya with basic training in business and mango production. In 4 years the project helped women increase their income by 140%.
Only 4.4% of all business loans in the US goes to female business owners. Initiatives like Belle Capital are changing the scene, it is focussed to fund business with female leads or owners.
A young girl in a remote village in Kenya is most likely to get married and conceive at a young age. At the bottom of the pyramid, education is the key to women empowerment and gender equality.
There are cases like Malala Yousufzai where a woman fighting for female education rights in Pakistan was shot but miraculously survived, to fight harder and was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for her efforts.
Post basic education about rights, access to technology brings the second level of awareness to create and nurture better livelihood opportunities. Initiatives like Girls Who Code aim to bring greater access to future technologies and industries.
Media is the next layer in the chain. Having your voice heard to spread awareness and to advocate equal rights facilitates change. Individuals like Meryl Streep and Angelia Jolie are using their voices to bring gender equality in Arts through their books, plays, and films depicting the struggle of women.
Women’s right has come a long way, a lot is being done and still has a long way to go to bring a bright future.