Gender equality: The unfinished business of our time Social Share I WRITE today’s article in commemoration of International Women’s Day which was celebrated on March 8. This year, International Women’s Day was celebrated under the theme ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.’ Twenty-five years ago, close to 50,000 people gathered in Beijing, China for the Fourth World Conference on Women from which emerged the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Platform for Action imagined gender equality in all areas of life, including with respect to participation in decision- making.
Without a doubt, women have made some strides regarding their participation in decision-making, including at the highest political and business levels. Currently, at least 23 countries have a woman head of state or government. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel is perhaps the single most powerful political figure in the European Union and one of the w
What a year 2020 has been! We will tell the tale of how COVID-19 challenged the status quo of everyday life for generations to come. The human resilience and agility held strong in face of a global pandemic that infected tens of millions, cost more than 1.5 million lives, and wreaked havoc on almost every nation’s economy. However, this year highlighted the strong link between female leaders and their effectiveness in handling crises. Research by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) lauded countries that were led by women as they had systematically and significantly better outcomes while handling COVID-19 related crises due to proactive and coordinated policy responses .
Ayee on Women’s Political Leadership in the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Gloria Y.A. Ayee co-editor of
Historically, women have been significantly underrepresented in political leadership positions globally, and gender discrimination and inequality in the political sphere remains a key issue that many nations contend with. In recent months, the different approaches to crisis management and responses to public health concerns taken by men and women in positions of political power has come under scrutiny, igniting the debate about the role of women in politics and raising questions about whether women are generally better at managing crises. Women are often encouraged to emulate men’s leadership styles; however, during a crisis like the current pandemic, women in positions of political leadership tend to be more successful because they generally embody traits like empathy and humility, in addition to qualities like assertiveness and confidence, that they can leverage in their favor.