Davos 2012: Women as the Way Forward

Imagine if half the world's population were to reach its full potential. How would this advance progress on economic, societal and political issues?


The following debated the above question at one of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting events:

• Michelle Bachelet, Undersecretary-General, United Nations Women (UN Women), New York
• Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook, USA; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012; Young Global Leader
• Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop; Chair, The Elders, South Africa
• Talal Al Zain, Chief Executive Officer, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, Bahrain; Global Agenda Council on Private Capital

• Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand

• Nicholas D. Kristof, Columnist, The New York Times, USA

Some of the more interesting comments I picked up:

"We won't make it without the women" Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu

How can we create greater equality? By including women in the workforce.

"Women have the ability to generate better performance and profit in institutions" 

"We need the whole population to push forward the global economy, not just half of it"

"The Fortune 500 - the 25 companies which are 'female friendly' have reported higher performance" Talal Al Zain

Watch the debate here: http://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2012?idvideo=99977

Attitudes in both developed and developing world need to change. For example, t-shirts sold in Jamboree which say "Smart like daddy, pretty like mummy" hinder the progress that women are making to reach the top. Often, the more successful a woman is, the less she is liked. Sheryl Sandberg

Women spend 90% of their income on their children whereas men spend only 30-40% therefore giving women economic control can only result in better outcomes for the whole society. Michelle Bachelet

As Warren Buffet said: "I succeeded because I only had to compete with half of the population"

To conclude: "to achieve gender parity, it can't be a bad thing, can it?" Desmond M. Tutu

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Project Unbreakable

In the UK around 21% of girls and 11% of boys experience some form of child sexual abuse. 23% of women and 3% of men experience sexual assault as an adult. 5% of women and 0.4% of men experience rape. 


The majority of these people struggle to find a voice to speak out about this type of abuse and therefore suffer in silence, something they should not have to do after having suffered so much.


That's why Project Unbreakable, which uses photography to help heal those who were sexually abused by asking them to write a quote from their attacker on a poster and photographing them holding the poster is so important. 


For the hundreds of thousands of people who have been sexually abused to be able to explain what their perpetrator said to them in justification of the sexual abuse is a way to take their anger and sadness out and in some way, to move on from their horrific experience.


Here are some examples of posters created:

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Hungry Much?

Top 5 Facts about Hunger you NEED to know (from WFP website)

This is depressing.......

1. Approximately 925 million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy. That means that one in every seven people on Earth goes to bed hungry each night. (Source: FAO News Release, 2012)

2. A third of all deaths in children under the age of five in developing countries are linked to undernutrition. (Source: UNICEF Report on Child Nutrition, 2006)

3. By 2050, climate change and erratic weather patterns will have pushed another 24 million children into hunger. Almost half of these children will live in sub-Saharan Africa. (Source: Climate Change and Hunger: Responding to the Challenge, WFP, 2009)

4.  It costs just US $0.25 per day to provide a child with all of the vitamins and nutrients he or she needs to grow up healthy. (Source: WFP, 2011)

5. Hunger is the single biggest solvable problem facing the world today. Here are eight effective strategies for fighting hunger.

BUT.........there are always solutions.............

5 Examples Of Effective Food Aid

1. Nourishing mothers means healthy babies

Providing the right sorts of nutritious food to women when they are pregnant or breast-feeding ensures their children get the nutrients they need to develop healthy minds and bodies.

2. School meals help kids learn

Providing free meals for children in school means they get the food they need to concentrate on their lessons. It also means they stay in school and get an education, which will help them escape poverty and hunger.

3. Training gives women livelihoods

By giving poor women food rations in return for attending training courses in gardening, bee-keeping or other skills helps give them a means to support themselves and their families in the years ahead

4. Vouchers enable urban hungry to eat

When there is food in the markets, but poor people simply can’t afford it, then food vouchers can help ensure vulnerable families get the food they need. They also help support the local economy.

5. Supporting farmers strengthens communities

Giving training and support to smallholder farmers, helping them to connect better to markets, helps communities develop resilient food production systems that will be able to resist occasional shocks.

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