Colleen Larsen | Chief Executive | Business Engage | mail me |
Dr Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary-General) once said, “There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women,” and he was right.
Our continent continues to face development challenges because women and girls, in many societies today, continue to have a constricted channel to success in this ever-competitive world.
It is still a sad reality that many African communities still hold an archaic view of gender equality and side-line the need to uplift women and girls.
Much of the work for gender mainstreaming is ad-hoc and not a consistent, deliberate process. Many awards recognise senior leaders and heads of departments in the C-suite or serving on boards. The Gender Mainstreaming Awards (GMAs) focus on champions for change, both men and women.
Beyond celebrating the winners, it is about the number of people behind the more significant movement. It is about recognising everyone who took the time to share their story about how they are making an impact on the ground.
Real stories of courage and determination
RMB’s Africa’s Fearless Thinker award winner Dr Gladys Ngetich from Kenya is a beautiful example of an inspirational story. Starting from an under-resourced local primary school in Rift Valley in Kenya to becoming a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, Dr Ngetich has shattered stereotypes and has risen above all odds.
Beyond her numerous achievements, she co-founded Iluu, an organisation that has impacted over 8,000 students, more so women and girls, through educational outreach programs in rural Kenya.
Another inspiring story is that of Dr Julieth Gudo from Zimbabwe. Julieth lost her parents at seven years old and lived with her paternal grandparents in extreme poverty in Zimbabwe. As a child sitting at home and not doing anything other than facing the harsh socio-economic hardships and a child marriage that was about to take place at 13 years old, Julieth decided to escape from home when she lost her grandmother. The latter had shielded her for many years. When she escaped, Julieth travelled to South Africa with other immigrants to search for greener pastures. Julieth is a PhD in Commercial Law holder and currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa, University of Cape Town. She is also a Facilitator for the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Southern Africa.
Positive Role Model Champion for West Africa Ida Faal came from a background where she wasn’t allowed to own a business. According to research by the Gambia Labour Department, only 3% of women are in the skills sector market. It motivated Ida to choose a female auto mechanic engineer career because she wanted to break the stereotype that females should not be in a male-dominated sector. Ida is the Executive Director of FitaFaal, a digital market platform that connects the automotive industry to technicians and the general public. Ida’s most significant achievement is being the founder of the ClockTvet Foundation, a youth-led foundation that advocates and trains young people especially females in technical and vocational skills.
These are the stories of courage and determination that the GMAs uncover and share. Each story shows what the winners believe is their role in society shared across the three African regions. Winners are those who understand that, yes, it’s vital to grow in their career, but also essential to bring others along behind them.
It’s a Quevolution
It is not so much about hosting an awards event as it is about purpose. Our mission is fulfilled even if we reward one, two or three companies in a region, and we grow from there.
We are not set to bring a revolution in gender mainstreaming – because that will not be sustainable, and most companies will not be able to buy into it – but rather a quick evolution or, as I call it, a “Quevolution”. The World Economic Forum tells us that it may take over 130 years to achieve gender parity, which is likely beyond our lifetime. So, we must be deliberate and consistent if we want to see some change.
We encourage the younger generations to become more vocal and involved in gender mainstreaming, so this year, we awarded a Young Inclusive Leader in Southern Africa.
Older individuals may have a lot of experience, but they typically don’t want to rock the boat, while younger people are much braver and more open to championing these conversations. It is necessary because they must be involved in setting up the world they want to live in. We must make space for the younger generation that is coming up to promote new and innovative ideas for change.
For a company to be named either a regional or overall Africa champion, it must have entered several categories (or regions) and shown high impact across each. We look for the journey and visible growth over time in setting up structures and running programs that support gender diversity. The GMAs recognise companies that believe gender mainstreaming is strategic and that they would not be effective without it. It flows from the board level to the ground.
Bringing together the wisdom of the older and the innovation of the younger, including men and all demographic groups – is the business case for gender mainstreaming. We are proud of what has been achieved this year – a 60% increase in entries, 50% of the entries were nominated by men, and our new opportunities for collaboration with women’s rights organisations in countries like Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
We continue to break the mould
There are many more countries in Africa that we still need to get on board. We intend to make Africa the gender hub from where we export positive stories – and we haven’t arrived at that.
We’ve proven that just by telling the stories, we inspire change. Our culture is different because we have relationships with every person we bring on board, and relationships have developed over many years.
So, we’re not looking to go into the rest of Africa to revolutionise people’s way of doing things but rather inspire them to come along with us on this journey. It has taken us ten years, and if it takes another 10, we will walk the mile because every little step for us is a step in the right direction. We often ask ourselves: did we move beyond the point, or are we still stuck?
This year we hosted the 10th round of celebrations, with Accenture as the naming partner for the third consecutive year. Soon, we aim to host more of these celebrations across Africa.
Thank you for this interesting and well-researched article.