As Women’s History Month comes to an end we’d like to think back to International Women’s Day – a special day to celebrate all females and those who identify as such.
This year on the 8th March the Gender Issue-Based group of Catalyst 2030 hosted a webinar on Gender Equality. Formed in 2019, Catalyst 2030 is a coalition made up of social entrepreneurs, social innovators from all sectors who are dedicated to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. At Efecto Colibrí, we are proud to belong to this incredible and inspiring community.
Women are under-represented in decision-making processes across all of the SDGs.
If we are to achieve these goals it is vital that women reach their full potential and participate equally in leadership and decision-making in all areas of sustainable development.
According to a new report from the climate research organisation Project Drawdown, empowering women and girls in developing countries ranked second among 76 solutions for curbing global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
It is estimated that universal girls’ education and family planning would reduce carbon by 85 gigatons by 2050.
So it is clear that womens’ issues are a universal concern and critical concern and one that we must address if we want to be on track to meet the SDGs by 2030.
‘If you have an idea and you truly want to change the world, you start with small achievable things’ (Jeroo Billimoria, Co-Founder Catalyst 2030)
- Bold Action for Women in Social Entrepreneurship – Pavitra Raja
The first speaker welcomed was Pavitra Raja, currently working as Community Specialist for social entrepreneurs in Europe, North America and Latin America regions. Pavitra stressed the importance of ‘shifting the narrative’, due to the fact that the culture of social entrepreneurship is very male orientated. It is about social inclusion, intersectionality, and working together.
At current rates of progress, it will take 257 years to close the gender pay gap, according to Mind the 100 Year Gap, a pre-COVID-19 crisis report from the World Economic Forum.
On top of this, it must also be made clear that in the context of the pandemic females have been disproportionately negatively impacted socially and economically.
‘We must change the narrative and to understand that what we value in society as we place value on has been decided by a patriarchal society’ (Pavitra Raja)
- Building new economies that include the feminine – Meenakshi Gupta
Meenakshi Gupta is the Co-founder of Goonj, a non-governmental organisation headquartered in New Delhi, India which tackles disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development in parts of 23 states across India. Goonj focuses on clothing as a basic but unaddressed need. Meenashi’s work in India has shown her how many women’s right’s violations need to be addressed as violations of human rights.
Not Just A Piece of Cloth is an initiative that addresses the issues of menstrual hygiene.
‘It is about breaking the culture of shame and silence around menstruation for women in rural and slum India’ (Meenakshi Gupta)
Meenashki is passionate about grassroots organisations helping to motivate rural marginalised women and communities to use their wisdom, resources and efforts to address their related sanitation and ultimately to have their voices heard.
- Education: Shifting mindset for boys and men
Dr. Urvashi Sahni, entrepreneur, and women’s rights activist and CEO and president of Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF). SHEF is a non-profit organisation that works towards Gender-Equality Education catering to different groups from rural and urban India, like girls, disabled children, rural youth. Urvashi made clear that it is important that we start to think about how we view ourselves as ‘self-perception is everything’.
‘it is not only about women but that we must also start to include males in the conversation’ (Urvashi Sahni)
It is about shifting consciousness in order to realise gender equality and justice in an inclusive way.
- Leading from Femenine principales – Karen Downes
Social entrepreneur and co-founder of FemmeQ, Karen Downes is dedicated to raising awareness and encouraging femenine leaders. FemmeQ is a community of changemakers, social activists and business leaders committed to creating new ways of thinking and acting.
As part of her latest initiative Flourish, Karen focuses on the female and masculine balance in order for humans to flourish and prosper both economically and in an environmentally sustainable way.
It’s about balance, truth, and essence so that men hear women in their respective fields and work together to shift consciousness.
- Inclusive systematic thinking – Dr. Ellen Lewis
Academic Dr. Ellen raised the theme of inclusive systemic thinking. It is crucial that we begin to include vulnerable and marginalized groups of people in our discussions – such as women. However this may sometimes mean increasing their vulnerability – we must respect this – as many women may face fatal consequences for speaking out so we must work to respect this risk and protect them whilst making their voices heard.
‘There needs to be a dynamic shift from male or human orientated stakeholders to systemic inclusive thinking that includes not only human marginalized voices but also the inhuman – mother earth’ (Ellen Lewis)
Also as we think about the female we must also consider all marginalized groups including those who identify as female and the LGBTQ community.
We should reflect on one of the common themes of the webinar – shifting consciousness to include the female. We may ask ourselves how can we embody the principles we stand for? What needs to be transformed? At Efecto Colibrí we ask ourselves these questions and invite you to do so, in an empathetic and profound way. Do you join us in this challenge?
