How Can We Better Include Women in the Economy?

A few months after the United Nations adopted its Sustainable Development Goals, CECI and WUSC asked International Forum actors to hold a discussion on the economic empowerment of women. Three leaders came forward to share their stories and visions, fuelling conversation how to ensure greater inclusion of women in the economy. 

A great many reports confirm that including women in the economy largely affects the economic viability of the entire country. Many international organizations have recognized the strong correlation between a country’s gender equality and its GDP and competitiveness. But where studies like these do exist, they are still largely unknown. Nevertheless, approaching gender equality from an economic perspective, as opposed to strictly viewing it through a moral or social lens, may be the strategy to adopt going forward. Astrid Pregel, Executive Director of WEConnect International Canada, is convinced of this and believes it is crucial to unveil these well-kept secrets. The figures are mind boggling. “If women played an identical role in labour markets to that of men, $28 trillion could be added to global annual GDP by 2025,” exclaimed the former Canadian diplomat in reference to a study released by the McKinsey Institute in September 2015.

Yet women still must believe that their aspirations are legitimate. According to Amina Gerba, they must also be aware of the inequalities they face. She asked, “How can an uneducated woman defend her interests? She does not know that she is aggrieved!" Ms. Gerba, president of Afrique Expansion Magazine, believes that education is prerequisite to greater inclusion of women in the economy. She arrived in Canada 30 years ago and has since created several businesses, some of which support women shea butter producers. She has made it her mission to promote women’s schooling and education in Africa. "There are 492 million illiterate women in the world," lamented Ms. Gerba, who is the only child in a family of 19 to have gone to school.  

The implications are huge. Haitian Danielle Saint-Lôt pointed out that, according to the World Bank, women reinvest an average 90% of their resources in food, education and healthcare (versus 40% for men). For this former Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of Tourism, women’s economic empowerment is a powerful tool for combatting poverty and is clearly the “smart economic choice.”

Ms. Saint-Lôt believes the first step towards empowering women in Haiti is to promote the country’s largest, untapped resource: women entrepreneurs and heads of SMEs. “We must identify the fighters and help them to succeed. These are the women who will help us build a middle class and attract investors," insisted the co-founder and president of Femmes en Démocratie, a Haitian NGO that reminds us that when women have greater presence in the business world, corruption tends to shrink. “We must formalize women’s contribution to the economy and develop sector-specific approaches, especially in agriculture. We especially must change the nature of power relations at their core. Let’s build upon CECI’s experience. These women need to be organized into agriculture cooperatives in key sectors so they can negotiate, make decisions, generate income, and thereby gain recognition from the community and public authorities.”

While aware of the enormity of this task, Ms. Saint-Lôt, who is also Haiti’s Ambassador-at-Large for Women’s Empowerment, still finds cause for celebration. In Haiti, it recently became mandatory to elect at least one woman to every three-member communal council and one to the board of directors for every communal section – a change Ms. Saint-Lôt deems “a major accomplishment.” “Having women involved in local governance will change the face of Haiti. These leaders will be getting more women involved and, 10 years from now, we will have reached a critical mass,” Danielle Saint-Lôt enthused. “But until that happens, let’s stop hijacking the issue of women’s rights! Let’s educate our sons!"

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Text: Carole Duffréchou