Written by: Dr. Hynd Bouhia, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Women’s empowerment is at the root of economic growth, sustainable development and social well-being. There isn’t any initiative or any reform making sense without a clear integration of gender equality in it.
And gender equality is about women's empowerment.
Paving The Way For Gender Equality
Gender equality is on top of all the performance indicators for any project evaluation and for every aspect related to socio-economic improvements.
Based on reams of data and decades of experience, the United Nations has made it a point to call for the full integration of girls at every level of schooling. The deeply interwoven priorities – “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education” and “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” – rank as UN’s fourth and fifth Sustainable Development Goals, with linked targets, indicators and accountability through which governments eliminate gender disparities and get every child enrolled by 2030.
Getting girls to school is the start of the journey for any women. It is frightening when you know that 150 million girls are out of school today[1]. The 129 million[2] girls were estimated by the UNICEF in 2021 and 20 million secondary school girls have been out of school since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Malala Fund.
There is still a lot of work to be done for those girls. First in terms of education and second, in preparing them to become fully integrated to the economy and the society.
Clearly, gender equality can be reached through women empowerment and by getting young girls and young women ready to embrace the opportunities which are presented to them.
In simple terms as it applies to everyone, when a woman is empowered, she creates her own economy. She invests in her children and in herself. She starts having a voice and being heard in her family and in her community. She will feel valued and appreciated and will prepare the next generation to do the same.
Empowering Women Prepares The Next Generation
Women play an important role in boosting the economy and in contributing to the socio-economic development of their community. In fact, women always pass on their knowledge to their community. They also contribute to improving their community.
When we invest in women, we invest not only in them but in the next generation. In fact, women who are more educated have a chance to work and create an impact for their family. They will reinvest the money their make in the education and health of her children. Women use their income to send their children to school and to look after their health.
It has been shown that when women receive capital, they reinvest almost all (90%) of it back into the community through education, health and food, more than twice of what men reinvest (40%)[3]. Moreover, as the engine and foundation of the home, the woman’s health and education and economic security will flow over to ensure access to these basic necessities for her entire family as well.
Therefore, by giving women the opportunity to be integrated into the work force, to get a job or to launch her business, it is equivalent to setting up a platform for her self-worth and self-confidence.
This is how women’s empowerment will lead to creating sustainable economies!
The Five Fundamentals Of Women Empowerment
There are five fundamentals to empower women and to create not only a sustainable impact, but also waves of ripple effects. All these efforts would scale up in order to reach a global level.
Here are the five fundamentals for women to power up:
1. Raising their confidence through mindset transformation and boosting their self-image. This is essential for women to believe[4] in their dreams, in the possibilities and in their capacity to create the life they desire for them and for their children.
2. Building their resilience by enhancing their sense of purpose and contributing to their overall development and well-being. Resilience will help women stand back up after failure or a set-back or any challenge in their life.
3. Getting tech savvy by embracing the digital world and using technologies in their business. After the pandemic, the world became completely digital and the way of doing business and commerce was redefined by integrating digitalization, artificial intelligence and other advanced tools.
4. Becoming financially autonomous will bring an immediate sense of self-worth. It gives women the possibility to contribute to economic growth and to better prepare the next generation. Several avenues are offered when they acquire the right skills. Women will integrate the work force, and also have the possibility to become an entrepreneur by launching their own business.
5. Feeling safe by understanding all the reforms and policies that have been implemented to encourage women involvement in the work force, in leadership and decision-making positions. Feeling safe is also about having the right mindset and being able to let go of fear and doubt and to step into authority and engagement.
Finally, it is important to prepare women to take on leadership positions by harnessing their skills and providing them with the nurturing environment. This can happen with training and by setting up the right support system to prepare women for the role they meant to play in their family, their community, and in the global sphere.
Dr. Hynd Bouhia, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Hynd Bouhia has cumulated more than 20 years of professional experience in high-level and leadership positions, covering investments, financial structuring, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development strategies. Hynd Bouhia was nominated by Forbes among the 100 most influential women in the world in 2008 and among the most influential women in Business in the Arab World in 2015 and honored as a member of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in 2018.
Reference:
