Speaking at the Women in Parliament Global Forum Summit 2015 in Addis Abbaba Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda former President of the Republic of Malawi said, This summit is taking place at a time when the African Union and her people are working towards vision 2063 where we seek to realise a peaceful, integrated and prosperous continent. Furthermore, the African Union has declared this year as a ‘year of women”.
As we take stock of Beijing Platform for Action this year, it is my hope that our discussions will take cognisance that we have not achieved Millennium Development Goals 3 that promotes gender equality and empower women and 5 which improves maternal health. It is therefore important that the outcomes of this Summit influence and feed into the Post 2015 and the Post Beijing +20 processes.
We went to Beijing determined and charged to change the situation of women in the world. It was raining and we got soaked. We articulated our issues and we were convinced that time for women to participate in leadership and decision making had come. It was also apparent that if we were to change the situation of women, we had to sit at the decision making table. Those of us who went to Beijing were very committed. We took home the Platform of Action in which women’s decision making and leadership were a priority.
Beijing was the beginning of shifting of power from traditional patriarchal hands to a new generation of leaders. We have noted that power in the hands of women meant power in the hands of the masses. It meant better life for everybody, better human rights and better governance. This new generation of women leaders emerged from there. And how do I know? Because I am one of you.
This is also a time when we have seen the evolution of power from monarchs to presidents and now to leaders in public square. We see today leaders emerging from market places, from community groups and most of them emerge naturally.
We have also seen power shifting from one continent to another, from one country to another, from boardrooms to cyberspace; from governments and political parties to interest groups and independent candidates.
As I was reading an article by Moises Naim on “End of Power”, I couldn’t help looking at how leadership has shifted from the traditional patriarchal structures to the hands of ordinary citizens. This has been significant for women’s participation in leadership and decision making. It is amazing to see how far we have come in achieving this since Beijing. It is clear that the time for women to participate in leadership positions has come and those who ignore this do so at their own peril.
Indeed, Moises Naim argues and I quote “insurgents, fringe political parties, innovative start-ups, hackers, loosely organised activists, upstart citizen media, leaderless young people in city squares and others are shaking up the old order’. He continues to observe that.’…all of these trends point to the same direction: the redistribution and scattering of power from established players to more competitors…” .
These increasingly emerging trends are reshaping power, the participation of women and women leadership is becoming critical as women constitute more than half of the world’s population. In any case they brought the other half into this world.
Beijing was the beginning of shifting of power from traditional patriarchal hands to a new generation of leaders. We have noted that power in the hands of women meant power in the hands of the masses. It meant better life for everybody, better human rights and better governance. This new generation of women leaders emerged from there. And how do I know? Because I am one of you.
This is also a time when we have seen the evolution of power from monarchs to presidents and now to leaders in public square. We see today leaders emerging from market places, from community groups and most of them emerge naturally.
We have also seen power shifting from one continent to another, from one country to another, from boardrooms to cyberspace; from governments and political parties to interest groups and independent candidates.
As I was reading an article by Moises Naim on “End of Power”, I couldn’t help looking at how leadership has shifted from the traditional patriarchal structures to the hands of ordinary citizens. This has been significant for women’s participation in leadership and decision making. It is amazing to see how far we have come in achieving this since Beijing. It is clear that the time for women to participate in leadership positions has come and those who ignore this do so at their own peril.
Indeed, Moises Naim argues and I quote “insurgents, fringe political parties, innovative start-ups, hackers, loosely organised activists, upstart citizen media, leaderless young people in city squares and others are shaking up the old order’. He continues to observe that.’…all of these trends point to the same direction: the redistribution and scattering of power from established players to more competitors…” .
These increasingly emerging trends are reshaping power, the participation of women and women leadership is becoming critical as women constitute more than half of the world’s population. In any case they brought the other half into this world.
Despite the growing number of women into leadership roles in different disciplines, it must be noted that still most leadership positions are occupied and therefore defined by men.
As a woman leader, 20 years after Beijing, I have learnt that from the beginning we should have engaged men at discussion level. The challenge is that since men were not initially engaged at the beginning, it has been difficult to secure their support in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action in advancing women’s leadership and in closing the gender gap.
My experience in following women leaders who have made it to Parliament, to Cabinet and even to State House has revealed that most of them have characteristics of a servant leader. They emerged from the women’s movement.
The advantages of having women leaders in decision making positions are:
a. They appoint fellow women into leadership positions.
b. They are risk takers in their desire to solve problems.
c. They pay attention to development and social protection programmes to ensure inclusivity of policy programs, and
d. Studies have shown that women leaders feel the urgency of doing something about situations.
• They bring a human face into policies and programs where issues of women and children are concerned.
• Women leaders have an inclusive, team building leadership style in solving problems and in decision making.
• Women are peace builders.
• Women leaders put people’s interest first
(example exist office)
However, it will be noted that there is need to develop mechanism of assisting women when they get into leadership to stay in those positions long enough because statistics show that as much as we get women into leadership positions, they do not stay long enough to make the desired positive impact.
I have also seen that as a servant leader, your leadership does not end with the office you hold. One continues to serve and finds a new role because you are in love with the people and the people are in love with you.
The world today is facing new challenges that demand a new style of leadership. The onset of information technology with its attendant social media, online newspapers, twitter, facebook has changed the structure of political governance. For example, the world has witnessed how social media influenced change in leadership in a lot of countries.
Information technology together with an increasing young population has redefined how power is exercised as citizens can comment, react or revolt to certain decisions by the leadership.
We are also witnessing reshaping of geopolitical environments due to increasing roles played by emerging economies. All these developments call for a new style of leadership and governance.
My mission in life is to assist women and youth gain socio economic empowerment through business and education. I spent most of my adult life fulfilling my mission by forming four organisations: National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network, brought the Hunger Project to Malawi and the Joyce Banda Foundation International.
I have walked this journey and I am a self made leader. I am privileged to have experienced most of the issues discussed here. I have experienced these issues first hand. My life’s work has been influenced by personal experiences.
In conclusion, I thought that I should share with this Summit what is obtaining on the global level as we reflect on the Beijing Platform for Action.
i) In Beijing, 20 years ago, we agreed that women should participate in leadership at all levels. Therefore this powerful forum should look at the challenges I have cited and consider the fact that we have failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals that directly affect women.
ii) My concern is while we are implementing Beijing +20, we need to pay attention to the fact that globally there is high turnover of women leaders in public office. What is most worrying to me is that it would appear that this trend is systematic and structured. The traditional patriarchal systems are alive and well. Without sounding arrogant, the world might wish to take note that the zeal, commitment and determination that we had in Beijing is still burning to keep pushing for women’s participation in the Post 2015 Agenda.
iii) For example: Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, Brazil, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Philippines, Argentina, United States of America and many more.
iv) This important Summit should therefore take an active role in supporting women leadership at all levels, especially those that are being victimised as highlighted earlier.
I thank you for your attention
