By Alam Paul
American poet Maya Angelou penned in one of the pieces: ‘‘Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” We need to reflect on Maya Angelou’s quote as we commemorate International Women’s Day, an event that traces its origin to the first gathering in 1911.
Despite making huge strides in emancipating women all over the world over the years as evidenced by winning landmark issues such as voting rights and literacy, many challenges still face women in emerging economies. I found myself reflecting on this year’s International Women’s Day theme— Choose to Challenge—and what it really means to me with the reality that faces many women in their respective backgrounds. The challenges cut across from corporate and political leadership to ordinary women trying to make ends meet.
The deep thought brought me to gender equality gap that cries to be filled. Most experts in patriarchal societies like ours may brush off the need to focus on gender parity but there is evidence that countries achieving sustainable development have considered it as affirmative action. It is a process that experts say may take years to fulfil but will be worth it. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Gender Gap Report 2020, it will take 99.5 years for the world to completely close the gender gap. Despite this being an improvement from the 108 years as of 2019, the sad reality is that women in my generation and those already ahead of me are unlikely to see gender equality in their lifetime.
Factors at hand
The report attributes the gender gap to several factors such as low levels of women in managerial or leadership positions, wage stagnation, labour force participation and income. This is exacerbated by the fact that employed women are more likely to be most vulnerable to disruption because they are more likely to be employed in the informal sector. For example, in developing countries, the share of women in informal employment was 4.6 per cent higher than that of men, when including agricultural workers; the number grew to 7.8 per cent points higher as per data by International Labour Organisation (ILO). The problems were compounded by the COVID-19 economic impacts which increased the gender gap after hitting the key sectors dominated by women. Hospitality, education, and agriculture had their supply chain greatly disrupted. To paint a clearer picture of the dire situation, McKinsey Global Institute further estimated that women are 1.8 times more vulnerable to the pandemic’s impact than men. In South Sudan, the factors and con[1]text slightly differ. Women are faced with challenges among them extreme poverty, lack of access to basic services like gender-based violence (GBV) support.
The problem has posed a challenge in country’s fight for gender equality although there are insufficient assessments to understand the plight of South Sudan. Despite the complexity of gender relations in South Sudan, there is a great opportunity for the private sector, humanitarian organisations, and government to mobilise and start tackling these pressing issues that will help women progress.
This will also help build momentum on the goal setting by the South Sudanese government to work towards ensuring at least 35 per cent female representation at all levels. It is not all gloom and doom, and if 2020 has taught us anything, it is that the traditional labels and stereotypes on women, as well as the glass ceiling and glass cliff, are gradually being broken. It is becoming clear that women are equally capable and competent in filling leadership positions at the same level as men.
Triumphs against odds
A recent study with links to Liverpool University that looked at the performance of 194 countries in their fight against COVID-19 found that women-led countries were generally more successful in fighting the pandemic than those led by men. The stereotypes that have held women back are being disapproved by scientific evidence and data!
Oxfam in its 2020 equality report estimates that women globally work for 12.5 billion hours in unpaid work every day. These include tasks such as fetching firewood, cooking, and cleaning for the male breadwinners.
This output is worth a whopping US$10.8 trillion annually and continues to put many women in a disadvantaged position in society economically when compared to their male counterparts who spend most of their time in paid work. Besides, this holds back revenue that could be used for household and communal development.
But there is hope. Research shows that women are likely to spend their incomes on educating and feeding households which are key ingredients for sustainable development.
As the popular saying goes, “When you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation.” As we celebrate International Women’s Day in South Sudan, it is time for the nation to rise and to implement policies that promote the empowerment and emancipation of women fully. This will help in achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (and gender equality) and for South Sudan.
-Alam Chaat Paul is the head of transactional products and services at Stanbic Bank South Sudan.
