Rep. Pramila Jayapal, of Washington state, is known for being an outspoken advocate of social justice, reproductive freedoms, and immigrants’ rights. Ahead of International Women’s Day, we wanted to hear more about her own immigration story and her message to young voters in a crucial election year. Read it all, in her own words, below.
It was a dream of my parents to give me the opportunity of education in the United States and everything that would provide, so they really made that ultimate sacrifice. I don’t know if any of us really understood what a sacrifice it would be, because I would never end up living on the same continent as them again. Now, decades later, I understand what that meant, and I’m very, very grateful. I think it’s part of what drove me as a teenager — I was only 16, I was here by myself and in a brand-new country, trying to make my way on my own — I think I have this sense of, I have to pay it forward, I have to be successful, I have to make sure I make my parents’ sacrifice worthwhile. Maybe it’s every immigrant’s story.
Immigrants are huge to building this country. They’re doing all types of jobs, from low-skilled to high-skilled. But if you look at how families survive, if you look at the food that people eat, the hotels or restaurants that they eat or sleep in, if you look at domestic work, care work, across the board, so much of this is powered by immigrants and immigrant women. The level of deep resilience, courage, and contribution to community, family, and country that immigrants bring — I see how that contribution is really not recognized in policy and that the other side puts immigrants through so much nasty rhetoric. I feel that even Democrats don’t always stand up in the way we should for immigrants, without whom we literally would not be able to function as a country.
I know we say that it’s incredibly important to vote in multiple elections — we certainly said it in 2016 and we saw what happened when Donald Trump came in and worked to destroy everything we hold dear, including our democracy. And he’s back. So the stakes are incredibly high. And at the same time, I know it is deeply frustrating for young people in particular to look at how screwed up the world is and to feel like somehow maybe they can’t make a difference. And the message I have is: you absolutely can make a difference. We don’t have perfection in our democracy, we don’t have perfection on our ballots, but we do have progress. And the most progress is made when people use their voices and use their votes to demand better.
We don’t have perfection in our democracy, we don’t have perfection on our ballots, but we do have progress.
I think this is going to be a very tough election, and I’ve come out strong for a cease-fire. I think the Gaza war is an issue that people feel are deep moral issues. So I know there’s a lot of work to do. But I also know that what we got done in the first two years of a Democratic White House, barely Democratic Senate, and a Democratic House was kind of incredible. Because of young people, we got the first gun legislation passed in decades. Because of young people, we got the biggest investment ever in climate change. There’s so much more I could go through. It’s not to say we’re done, it’s to say that people can make a difference, that it matters who controls Congress. And it matters to get more of us who are women of color, immigrants, Gen Z into Congress who can help to shift from the inside as well as the outside.
I’m inspired every day by my grandmother, who is an incredible woman who got a high school education and married very young and would still go out there and do things that just weren’t done. A woman who would go out there and play tennis in a sari. She’s passed, but I still feel her presence with me. Also women whose shoulders I stand on, and for me, Sojourner Truth is a really important figure in my life because of who she was, because of the courage she had to speak truth to power, and because she was fundamentally shifting public perception of what was possible. She’s incredibly important. And then the third is — I have been on the streets and in civil disobedience protests, getting arrested with undocumented women and immigrant women from all over the world, and I bring them into every room with me. The joy, the courage, the resilience, the risk I take — it reminds me every day that what I’m doing is nothing compared to what they’re doing, and it gives me the courage to keep fighting.
— As told to Lena Felton
Lena Felton is the senior director of features and special content at POPSUGAR, where she oversees feature stories, special projects, and identity content. Previously, she was an editor at The Washington Post, where she led a team covering issues of gender and identity.
As President Joe Biden made his way to the podium Thursday night to make his State of the Union address, cameras panned over the members of Congress gathered for the event, showing that many of the lawmakers were dressed in white. That was, obviously, not a coincidence.
The Democratic Women’s Caucus announced this week that its members would wear white—a nod to American suffragettes—and don pins reading “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” during the speech.
“Our message is clear: women must be able to access the health care they need to control their own lives and futures. That means women, not politicians, should be in charge of whether, when, and how to start or grow their families. That includes access to birth control, access to abortion, and access to IVF,” said DWC Chair Lois Frankel.
This is not the first time these Democratic congresswomen have used this specific sartorial choice to send a message. In 2019, the caucus decided to wear “suffragette white” to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. At the time, Frankel called the move a “respectful message of solidarity with women across the country, and a declaration that we will not go back on our hard-earned rights.”
Unfortunately, we have had so many of those rights stripped from us in the five years since. The DWC’s decision to wear white tonight is sending a simple, silent message that we do not intend to let that loss of rights be permanent, and that the fight is ongoing.
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she’s been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.
Bukes Saliu, a forklift driver, is a Nigerian woman who challenging stereotypes. Credit: Promise Eze/IPS
by Promise Eze (lagos)
Inter Press Service
LAGOS, Sep 28 (IPS) – Bukes Saliu wakes up very early every workday to beat the gruesome Lagos traffic to head to a job quite unusual for a woman to engage in Nigeria. She is a forklift operator in one of the busy depots in the coastal city, a task traditionally meant for men in the West African country.
In a country where women are seen as second-class citizens and whose roles are expected to be confined to the kitchen, Saliu is not letting patriarchal norms put her in a box.
“People are always thrilled when I tell them what I do. Sometimes I get snide remarks from some men I work with, but I don’t allow that to get to me,” Saliu says.
In August 2022, her curiosity was piqued when she came across a post on WhatsApp from her friend featuring a woman confidently posed beside a forklift machine. That ignited her interest in the job. Soon after, she enrolled in training to become a skilled forklift operator.
“It was a change of career path for me. I used to be a project manager with a non-profit, but I left the job to be a forklift operator. The first day I started work, I was a bit afraid, but now I operate the machine like any other man would do. I believe that women should be allowed at the table because it brings different perspectives, ideas, and experiences,” she adds.
Patriarchy Lives in Nigeria
Discrimination against women has been a serious problem in Nigeria. Women still grapple with an array of challenges and are marginalized despite the Nigerian constitution providing for gender equality and nondiscrimination
Although the government has attempted to tackle these deep-rooted issues, the pace of progress remains sluggish. Women’s representation within politics and decision-making spheres remains poor. For example, out of a total of 15,307 candidates in the 2023 general elections, only 1,550 were women. Only three women were elected as senators as against nine in the last election, and only one woman emerged as a presidential candidate.
Women are often excluded from economic prospects. Within Nigeria’s populace exceeding 200 million, a mere 60.5 million people contribute to its labor force. Among this workforce, around 27.1 million women participate, a significant portion of whom find themselves involved in low-skilled employment. Nigeria’s position on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index is a lowly 123rd out of 156 nations.
Swimming Against the Tide
A limited number of women are challenging conventional gender norms for the purpose of livelihood, stepping into roles that are male dominated in Nigeria. However, this transition is often met with resistance and negative reactions.
In 2021, Iyeyemi Adediran gained widespread attention for her exceptional mastery of driving long-haul trucks for oil companies. However, despite her remarkable skill, the then 26-year-old shared that she faced derogatory remarks for daring to break gender norms associated with truck driving—an occupation traditionally considered male-dominated.
In 2015, Sandra Aguebor, Nigeria’s first female mechanic, gained widespread attention for her all-female garages across the country. However, she revealed that her mother initially did not support her ambitions, believing that fixing cars should only be done by men.
Faith Oyita, a shoemaker in Benue State, Nigeria, is not letting patriarchal norms stop her. Despite Aba, a growing men-led market in southeast Nigeria, dominating the shoemaking industry, Oyita has been determined to make a name for herself since 2015, even though she resides kilometers away. She says she has trained over 300 other people on how to make shoes.
“When I first started, I didn’t care about the challenges that came with shoemaking. I had a deep passion for it, and I wanted to beautify people’s legs. Even though it was a skill dominated by men, I was determined to do things differently. I knew that greatness doesn’t come from convenience. In the beginning, many people questioned why I chose shoemaking. Even the man who taught me was hesitant and doubted my potential. I was the only female among all his apprentices, and many assumed that I came because I wanted to date him. Despite all the negative remarks, I never gave up,” she tells IPS.
Patriarchy Came Through Colonialism
“A lot of what is happening today is not how we originally lived our lives as Nigerian women. Patriarchy actually entered our society during the colonial era. Before colonization, both men and women were able to do things without being restricted by gender. Historically, women were involved in trading goods and services, and they could even marry multiple wives for themselves.
“However, when the colonialists arrived, they distorted our culture and, using religion, promoted the idea that men held more power. We should strive to correct this narrative. It’s unfortunate that we have been socialized to believe that men should always be in leadership positions and that women should only be in a man’s home,” says Añuli Aniebo Ola-Olaniyi, Executive Director, HEIR Women Hub.
Speaking further, Ola-Olaniyi argues that women who want to break gender norms must have a change of mindset and be ready to face challenges.
“The country that colonized us has their women driving buses and flying planes. They have progressed from where they colonized us. But Nigeria has failed to empower its women. When a Nigerian woman does something that is traditionally seen as only for men, it is seen as a big accomplishment. However, she has always been capable of doing those things. It’s just that the opportunities were not available. I don’t even think it’s a switch in gender roles. I believe that women are simply starting to realize their potential,” she tells IPS.
Thelma Cabrera and Jordán Rodas launch their candidacy for the presidency and vice presidency of Guatemala in December 2022, which has been vetoed by the courts, in a maneuver that has drawn criticism from human rights groups at home and abroad. CREDIT: Twitter
by Edgardo Ayala (santa catarina palopÓ, guatemala)
Inter Press Service
SANTA CATARINA PALOPÓ, Guatemala, Mar 04 (IPS) – Centuries of racism and exclusion suffered by indigenous peoples in Guatemala continue to weigh heavily, as demonstrated by the denial of the registration of a political party that is promoting the presidential candidacy of indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera in the upcoming general elections.
On Mar. 2, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled against Cabrera’s party, the leftist Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP), which had appealed a Feb. 15 Supreme Court resolution that left them out of the Jun. 25 elections.
Cabrera’s candidacy and that of her vice-presidential running-mate Jordán Rodas are now hanging by a thread, with their hopes depending on a few last resort legal challenges.
The deadline for the registration of candidates is Mar. 25.
A centuries-old racist system
Guatemala’s political and economic elites “are looking for ways to keep her (Cabrera) from registering; everyone has the right to participate, but they are blocking her,” Sonia Nimacachi, 31, a native of Santa Catarina Palopó, told IPS. The municipality, which has a Cachiquel Mayan indigenous majority, is in the southwestern Guatemalan department of Sololá.
“We would like a person with our roots and culture to become president, I think it would help our people,” added Nimacachi, standing by her street stall in the center of town.
Nimacachi, a Cachiquel Mayan woman, sells “granizadas” or snow cones: crushed ice sweetened with syrup of various flavors, perfect for hot days.
The organization, based in Santa Catarina Palopó, carries out human rights programs focused on indigenous women.
Santa Catarina Palopó, a picturesque Cachiquel Mayan town located on the shore of Lake Atitlán in the southwestern Guatemalan department of Sololá, is preparing for the upcoming general elections, where voters will choose a new president, vice president, 160 members of Congress, 20 members of the Central American Parliament, as well as 340 mayors. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala/IPS
“Racism has prevailed, we are mistreated everywhere by the government and the authorities, we are seen as people with little capacity,” said Menchú, of the Maya Quiché ethnic group.
An alleged illegality attributed to Rodas, the vice-presidential candidate, was the cause for denying the MLP the right to register for the elections.
Analysts and social organizations perceive obscure maneuvering on the part of the powers-that-be, who cannot accept the idea that an indigenous woman is trying to break through the barriers of the country’s rigid, racist political system.
Cabrera is a 51-year-old Mayan Mam woman who is trying for a second time to run in the unequal fight for the presidency of this Central American country of 14.9 million inhabitants.
Of the total population, 43.7 percent identify as indigenous Mayan, Xinca, Garífuna and Afro-descendant peoples, according to the 2018 census.
In the 2019 elections Cabrera came in fourth place, winning 10 percent of the total votes cast.
In the Jun. 25 general elections voters will choose a new president for the period 2024-2028, as well as 160 members of Congress and 20 members of the Central American Parliament, and 340 mayors.
In Guatemala, the ancient Mayan culture was flourishing when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 16th century.
The descendants of that pre-Hispanic civilization still speak 24 different autochthonous languages, most of which are Mayan.
Years of exclusion and neglect of indigenous rural populations led Guatemala to a civil war that lasted 36 years (1960-1996) and left some 250,000 dead or disappeared.
The presidential candidacy of Thelma Cabrera, of the Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP), must be allowed by the Guatemalan authorities, so that the indigenous population is represented in the Jun. 25 elections, says Silvia Menchú, director of the K’ak’a Na’oj (New Knowledge, in Cachiquel) Association for the Development of Women. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala/IPS
A blatant maneuver
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal’s (TSE) rejection of the MLP arose from a complaint against Rodas, who served between 2017 and 2022 as head of the Office for the Defense of Human Rights.
In that office, Rodas strongly questioned alleged acts of corruption by the current government of Alejandro Giammattei, who took office in January 2020.
The criminal complaint against the vice-presidential candidate was filed on Jan. 6 by the current head of the Office for the Defense of Human Rights, Alejandro Córdoba.
After Cabrera and Rodas attempted to register as candidates, Córdoba said he had “doubts” about some payments allegedly received by his predecessor in the Office for the Defense of Human Rights.
His “doubts” apparently had to do with some alleged illegality on the part of Rodas, but since Córdoba has not described it in detail, his statements have been nothing but a weak half-hearted accusation.
However, that was enough for the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to reject the MLP on Feb. 2, which triggered protests by rural and indigenous people, who blocked roads in at least 12 parts of the country.
According to Guatemalan law, all candidates for popularly elected positions must have a document that attests that they have no pending legal issues.
But analysts have pointed out that this document should only take into account actual legal rulings handed down by courts, and not “doubts” vaguely expressed by some government official.
By vetoing Rodas, the TSE automatically bars his presidential runningmate Cabrera, who may actually be the ultimate target of the maneuver, since she is the one who is trying, once again, to win the votes of the indigenous population.
On Feb. 15, the MLP runningmates filed a provisional injunction with the Supreme Court, so that it would take effect immediately and overrule the TSE’s decision, while the Supreme Court studied and resolved the matter in depth.
But the injunction was rejected, so the MLP appealed the next day to the Constitutional Court, asking it to review the case and order the Supreme Court to admit the provisional injunction, to allow the fight for the registration of Cabrera and Rodas to continue forward.
But the appeal was denied Thursday Mar. 2 by the Constitutional Court.
However, the Supreme Court has not yet issued a final ruling on the injunction, but only a provisional stance. This means that when it is finally issued, if it goes against the MLP, Cabrera and Rodas could once again turn to the Constitutional Court, in a last-ditch effort.
But it seems as if the die is already cast.
In a tweet on Thursday Mar. 2, Rodas wrote: “The constitutional justice system has denied my constitutional right to be elected and denies the population the right to choose freely. We await the Supreme Court ruling on the injunction and the position of the @IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights). Our fight continues.”
Guatemala’s political and economic elites are determined to block the candidacy of indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera, says Sonia Nimacachi, a Cachiquel Mayan woman selling snowcones in Santa Catarina Palopó, in the country’s southwest. She would vote for Cabrera again, if her candidacy is finally allowed. CREDIT: Edgardo Ayala/IPS
Cabrera’s second attempt
This is Cabrera’s second attempt to run for the presidency. Her first was in the 2019 elections, when she failed to fully capture the indigenous vote.
“I would dare to think that the majority of the indigenous population did not vote for her because of those instilled prejudices: that she is a woman and also indigenous, not a professional, are issues that have nothing to do with the dignity and the quality of a person,” argued Silvia Menchú.
She added that the right-wing parties have been allies of the country’s evangelical churches, through which they keep in submission segments of the indigenous population that end up supporting conservative parties, rather than a candidate who comes from their Mayan culture.
To illustrate, she said that in Santa Catarina Palopó, a town of 6,000 people, there is only one school to cover primary and middle-school education, “but there are about 15 evangelical churches.”
In a joint statement, the two organizations said the electoral authority’s rejection of aspiring candidates “is based on dubious grounds, puts political rights at risk, and undermines the credibility of the electoral process.”
“The electoral process is taking place in the context of a decline in the rule of law, in which the institutions responsible for overseeing the elections have little independence or credibility,” they stated.
In addition to Cabrera and Rodas, the TSE also rejected the registration of right-wing candidate Roberto Arzú, because he allegedly began campaigning too early.
HRW and Wola added that “efforts to exclude or prosecute opposition candidates create unequal conditions that could prevent free and fair elections from taking place.”
Meanwhile, the TSE did endorse, on Feb. 4, the presidential candidacy of Zury Ríos, daughter of General Efraín Ríos Montt, who governed de facto between 1982 and 1983.
In 2013 the general was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for the massacre of more than 1,400 indigenous Ixil people in the north of the country.
He was sentenced to 80 years in prison, but the Constitutional Court later revoked the ruling. Ríos Montt died in April 2018.
Article 186 of the Guatemalan constitution prohibits people involved in coups d’état, or their relatives, for running for president.
Meanwhile, snowcone vendor Sonia Nimacachi said in the central square of Santa Catarina Palopó that she still held out hope that Cabrera would be able to register as a candidate.
“If they let her participate, I would vote for her again,” she said, while serving a customer.
While a “pretty thought” to express, the assumption made by most (realists) when Beyoncé said, “Who run the world? Girls” back in 2011 was that it was a more “metaphorical” sentiment. For it certainly didn’t apply in practice to the political arena: the sole source of true power on Planet Earth (apart from “billionaire businessman”). Not then, and not even now. Yes, there have been “strides,” but, at present, only about seven percent of women comprise leadership positions in high-ranking government roles. As of 2022, only thirteen countries were represented by women as a Head of State. Sadly, this will no longer include Jacinda Ardern, the beloved prime minister of New Zealand who has decided to step down from her role in February of 2023 and let someone else take on all the stress that comes with it. Ardern was an especially remarkable “anomaly” in the political arena because she was the youngest woman to become a head of state, and then did that one better by becoming the second female head of state to give birth while in office. Proving that, yes, women really can do it all. Often because they’re not given much of a choice.
Ardern’s decision to leave her post, however, proves that when a woman is given the opportunity not to have to juggle it all, she should take it. And Ardern was very candid in openly declaring, “I know what this job takes and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple. We need a fresh set of shoulders for that challenge.” This is something that, clearly, most men would fail to admit. Complete with “statesmen” like Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump and Joe Biden taking on the presidency at an age that calls into question a particular mental fitness required for such a rigorous job. Or what should be a rigorous job if one is actually doing it. Nonetheless, these men are given the green light to take on positions they have no business “performing” (and it is all ultimately just a performance for them).
But Beyoncé clearly didn’t want to think about that when she touted repeatedly, “Who run the world? Girls.” In addition to, “My persuasion [read: vagina]/Can build a nation/Endless power/With our love we can devour.” But it’s obviously the hate-driven subjugation spurred by men that has continued to succeed in this life. With messages of hate, if we’re being honest with ourselves, truly winning out over “radical love.”
What’s more, the type of women that do seek power often end up being walking examples—see: Margaret Thatcher, Giorgia Meloni, Marine Le Pen, Marjorie Taylor Greene—of internalized misogyny within the very gender that should seek to obliterate it at all costs. The only shining beacon of that obliteration has been Iceland (whose current prime minister is Katrín Jakobsdóttir). This not only being the first country to have a female president with the election of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir in 1980, but also the first openly gay (female or otherwise) president in the form of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, who took office in 2009. And it was Finnbogadóttir who said that her election would not have been possible without Kvennafrídagurinn, or the Women’s Day Off strike that took place on Friday, October 24, 1975. On this day, ninety percent of Iceland’s female population participated in the strike, which entailed not going to their jobs or doing housework/child care of any kind.
The intent, of course, was to show men “the indispensable work of women for Iceland’s economy and society.” That indispensability wasn’t just in Iceland, but worldwide. And yet, Iceland remains among the few countries with something vaguely resembling gender parity. So sure, if Beyoncé was thinking about Iceland when she sang “Run the World (Girls),” the lyrics might apply. For even Finland, for all its Scandinavian progressiveness in having a youthful female prime minister like Sanna Marin, couldn’t avoid the “scandal” that arose when videos of Marin drinking and partying at a private residence with her friends leaked to the public. The question of whether or not a man in power would be subject to even half as much scrutiny was immediately raised by women, including those who showed support for Marin’s right to party by posting videos of themselves drinking, dancing and generally having a good time in the wake of her “moral fitness” being put under a microscope. Indeed, a woman having a good time is still a cardinal sin in most men’s eyes—especially when she’s in a position of authority. Authority that is constantly undermined by male judgment, hypocritical accusations and a general petulant outcrying. All designed to somehow “prove” that women are “inept” and “too emotional” to shoulder the responsibility of running a nation. Cue the abrupt record scratch sound effect over the tune of this song potentially playing over an election win for Hillary Clinton.
Even Beyoncé’s lyrics don’t provide much in the way of a “vote of confidence” for female capability as she says things like, “This goes out to all my girls/That’s in the club rocking the latest.” As though the highest achievement a woman can reveal to accent her “power” is being well-dressed in the most expensive garb. Which is ultimately just a reiteration of the stereotype of women’s frivolity (hear also: “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”) more than a “boosting” commentary on a woman’s ability to pay for her own shit. To that point, Beyoncé also declares, “I work my nine to five [no she doesn’t], better cut my check.” This being yet another prime instance of Beyoncé pretending to act like she’s ever been a part of the conventional working world (with the “nine to five” trope also cropping up in “Haunted” via the lyrics, “Workin’ nine to five/Just to stay alive/How come?”). The most recent sonic illustration of that being “Break My Soul,” during which she urges the masses to quit their job by insisting, in this alternate universe where she’s an office worker, “I just quit my job I’m gonna find new drive/Damn, they work me so damn hard/Work by nine, then off past five [once again, Bey clearly hasn’t updated herself on what more modern working hours are]/And they work my nerves/That’s why I cannot sleep at night.” Really? It has nothing to do with the pain of a lie like, “Who run the world? Girls”?
For what Beyoncé is really alluding to in that song is the Lysistrata-based fact that women “run the world” with their sexual power (e.g., “You’ll do anything for me”—yeah, because pussy runs dick, hence the term, “Pussy Power”). As Samantha Jones once said of giving head (as opposed to head of state), “The sense of power is such a turn-on—maybe you’re on your knees, but you got him by the balls.” This being one of those things women have to tell themselves in order to keep going. That no matter how demeaned they are, they still have their ultimate power: the threat of withholding sex (once more: Lysistrata). And even that isn’t much of a source of power when it’s so often ripped from them through sexual assault.
To boot, what will become of that power in a world ever-changing with regard to gender fluidity and sexuality? It seems that’s the real reason “conventional” women like Giorgia Meloni end up in high government positions: to somehow ensure that they can keep what little power they have with the cisgender straight white males who actually run the world by championing discriminatory practices that exclude trans and LGTQIA+ rights. It’s a bleak reality, to be sure—but it is reality. And according the UN’s prognostications for gender parity in government at the current rate, it will remain a reality for another “130 years.” At which time, most of the population will probably be dead because of male decisions made (or rather, not made) about how to conserve what’s left of the environment.
To add insult to the injury of it all, Beyoncé chose to kick off 2023 by performing in the United Arab Emirates—even if somewhere as “progressive” as Dubai. Where laws against women (including a husband’s “right” beat his wife) are notoriously not in favor of the Bey-backed sentiment regarding women running the world (but “principles” tend to go effortlessly out the window when one is paid twenty-four million dollars to lose them). Not to mention the Emirates being very anti-LGBTQIA+ a.k.a. the community that Bey freely pillaged from for her Renaissance album.
In short, it’s pretty hard evidence that she’s not all that committed to making a point about women running the world in any way other than “symbolically.” And the same goes for women like Meloni, who actively seek to reinforce the patriarchal system we’re trapped in by working “within it” instead of against it.
GENEVA, Oct 28 (IPS) – The organisational is personal. Every day since the two of us were asked back in 2020 to co-lead the process of culture transformation at UNAIDS, the United Nations organisation which drives global efforts to end AIDS, we have both felt at our very core how crucial it has been to get it right.
The mission of UNAIDS is vital to ensuring the health and human rights of every person. Staff and partners need to be confident of a supportive and empowering culture that will enable their work.
A 2018 Report by an Independent Expert Panel had shone a light on what were important organisational shortcomings, leading to a comprehensive set of changes in leadership, systems and crucially, culture.
As the Culture Transformation process has got underway, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented shifts in work, and a resurgence of global protests, including from the Black Lives Matter movement and for women’s rights, have a generated an inspirational momentum for action to tackle intersectional injustice.
Reflecting almost three years of UNAIDS culture transformation work, what stands out in particular for the two of us is how the “outer work” has required so much “inner work”. We have needed to be, and to help others be, our full selves, and to acknowledge what we don’t yet know of each other’s experiences.
The process has deepened our appreciation of how our differences, both personally and professionally, are a key strength, enabling each situation, each process, to be seen from a combination of unique angles, and how equality is crucial in enabling all these to be brought forth.
Creating safe spaces for our colleagues to speak about their lived experiences was transformative. We asked ourselves and those around us tough and tender questions. We had colleagues tell us they felt heard for the first time. Brave conversations helped colleagues to connect and to advance the tangible changes that matter most to them.
We understood the need for a common reference framework for all of us at UNAIDS. This has led to a first set of feminist principles that guide our way forward.
Through the process, it became ever more clear to both of us that culture transformation begins at the personal level. As a Malawian woman of African-Asian heritage, living and working in Latin America at this time, intersecting identities and multiple cultural heritage became for Mumtaz the centre of personal reflections.
In leading conversations on decolonizing the HIV Response, Mumtaz’s own colonization was calling for attention. For Juliane, too, this has been powerful journey: as someone who has experienced sexual assault in the workplace, this work is deeply personal, driven by a determination to build safe workplaces for everyone, including by addressing inequalities and unhealthy power balances. Our intersectional feminist approach has brought our experiences to our work.
But this work has also highlighted that whilst the organisational is personal, so too the personal is often dependent on the organisational. Engaging with intersectional feminist principles at the personal level was not enough.
That is why we were proud to help UNAIDS become the UN entity to put intersectional feminist principles at the core of its being. It is why vital work continues to integrate those principles into policies and practices to advance a workplace culture in which every individual can flourish.
As we have helped build a movement for change across six regions, engaged in conversation with more than 500 colleagues, and supported some 25 diverse teams in their own journey, we have recognised the centrality of the institutional level.
Cultural transformation is a long and challenging process that requires the tenacity and creativity of many. To weave the stories and aspirations of so many of the champions for change together while preserving their uniqueness, we have borrowed the quilt symbol that is iconic in the AIDS response.
As the change process evolves, new tiles will be added, others might fade or need repairing. But the work is not done. It is a ‘quilt in the making’ – individual and collective work, one tile at a time.
Mumtaz Mia and Juliane Drews have led UNAIDS Culture Transformation since May 2020.
Mumtaz is a Public Health expert with two decades of experience working to end AIDS. Juliane is a change management expert with 15 years of experience in developing inclusive and just organizations in which staff in all their diversity thrive.
UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous addresses the inaugural meeting of the UNGA Platform of Women Leaders at UN Headquarters during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, 20 September 2022. Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown
by Thalif Deen (united nations)
Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 30 (IPS) – When the UN’s high-level meeting of world leaders concluded last week, the head count seemed lopsided: 190 speakers, including 76 Heads of State, 50 Heads of Government, 4 Vice-Presidents, 5 Deputy Prime Ministers, 48 Ministers and 7 Heads of Delegations—overwhelmingly male.
Among the 190 speakers, there were only 23 women, “a figure that represents around 10 per cent of leaders who participated this year”, according to the UN.
The President of the General Assembly Csaba K?rösi of Hungary struck a note of political consolation when he said: “But though their numbers are small, women leaders “pack a punch”, to quote former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who moderated this year’s first General Assembly Platform of Women Leaders”.
But the reaction from rights activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) was mostly negative.
Antonia Kirkland, Global Lead on Legal Equality at Equality Now told IPS “the dismal number of women leaders speaking at UNGA this year is very worrying given the regression on women’s rights in many parts of the world, including in the United States, where the UN General Assembly meets”.
There is a well-documented correlation, she said, between peace and security generally, economic development and women’s rights, which has an impact on everyone.
“The low number of female leaders speaking at UNGA is less than half the already low number of women parliamentarians worldwide (just over 26% according to IPU).”
“And as it becomes harder and harder for civil society to access the United Nations, women’s rights organizations have less of an opportunity to hold governments accountable to their legal obligations and commitments to ensure gender equality,” Kirkland declared.
The criticisms come amid longstanding complaints of how women are marginalized in the highest levels of the UN since its creation.
The male/female ratio for the Secretary-General stands at 9 vs zero. And the Presidency of the General Assembly (PGA), the highest policy-making body at the UN, is not far behind either.
The score stands at 73 men and 4 women as PGAs– even as the General Assembly elected another male candidate, as its 77th President, and who serves his one-year term beginning September 2022.
Since 1945, the only four women elected as presidents were: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit of India (1953), Angie Brooks of Liberia (1969), Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa of Bahrain (2006) and Maria Fernando Espinosa Garces of Ecuador (2018).
Meanwhile, women Heads of State and Government met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) High-level Week to discuss global issues in the newly created UNGA Platform of Women Leaders.
The event, under the theme of “Transformative solutions by women leaders to today’s interlinked challenges”, highlighted the fact that women’s full and effective political participation and decision-making are crucial to addressing global priorities effectively, decisively, and inclusively, according to UN Women.
With the presence of President Katalin Novák of Hungary, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir of Iceland, Prime Minister Fiam? Naomi Mata?afa of Samoa, and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja of Uganda, as well as Prime Minister Evelyna Wever-Croes of Aruba and Prime Minister Silveria E. Jacobs of St. Maarten, and former Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand, the event was hosted by the Office of the President of the General Assembly and UN Women, in cooperation with the Council of Women World Leaders (CWWL).
Purnima Mane, a former Deputy Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Assistant-Secretary-General, told IPS that in June 2022, the UNGA passed a resolution commemorating the International Day of Women in Diplomacy which acknowledged the contribution of women globally at all levels of decision making who work for the achievement of sustainable development, peace and democracy.
“And yet, we recognize that women are grossly under-represented at most levels in the UN including national delegations and senior levels of the diplomatic corps.”
While women’s political representation at senior levels is on the rise in many countries over the last few years, especially women serving as heads of State, she pointed out, it still has a long way to go with only 28 of the 193 Member states having Women heads of State of government.
This low representation of women was evident in the recent UNGA session, she said.
Of the 190 speakers, 23 were women, a figure that represents around 10 per cent of the leaders who participated this year – a number that is still “woefully low”, said Mane, a former President and CEO of Pathfinder International
It is significant, she said, that many of this small group of women leaders “pack a punch” as stated by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who moderated this year’s first General Assembly Platform of Women Leaders.
At this newly launched General Assembly Platform of Women Leaders, the female heads of State of several countries like Aruba, Bangladesh, Hungary, Iceland, St. Maarten, Samoa and Uganda, addressed the group.
“Undoubtedly this comment from Former New Zealand PM Clark gives us pause to think. It is true that some of the women leaders like those of Finland and many other Member States, have caused the world to sit up and take notice of their achievements.”
Many of the countries with female leadership are making a difference at the country level, focusing on gender equity and ensuring laws and policies which foster these.
“These countries are also doing better in terms of development goals and making a difference in their region as a whole, also inspiring women around the world to recognize their potential. Imagine what the world would be like if this number of women leaders increased significantly, to the benefit of not just their countries, but also their regions and the world,” she added.
The actions these women leaders have taken speak for themselves – they are pioneering and have yielded much-needed benefits, said Mane.
“Data are plentiful to show what a difference these women leaders are making both domestically and internationally. Yet their numbers grow far too slowly”.
“While numbers do not tell the whole story, they certainly indicate the source of the problem, and the world loses out in moving faster towards development and greater equity,” she declared.
Addressing the meeting of women leaders, Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, said: “When more women lead in political and public life, everyone benefits, especially in crises”.
A new generation of girls see a possible future for themselves. Health, education, childcare, and violence against women receive greater attention and better solutions.
“We must find every possible way to amplify the assets women leaders bring. This Platform is an opportunity to do just that.”
Recent global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate, and conflicts, have shown the positive difference women’s leadership and decision-making can make in executive positions, parliaments, and public administration, she said.
For example, the UNDP–UN Women COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker shows that governments with higher women’s representation in parliaments adopted a higher number of gender-sensitive policy measures in response to COVID-19, including policies aimed directly at strengthening women’s economic security.
Out of the 193 Member States of the United Nations, only 28 women serve as elected Heads of State or Government, she pointed out.
Whilst progress has been made in many countries, the global proportion of women in other levels of political office worldwide still has far to go: 21 per cent of the world’s ministers, 26 per cent of national parliamentarians, and 34 per cent of elected seats of local government.
According to a new UN report, at the current pace of progress, equal representation in parliament will not be achieved until 2062, said Bahous.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of the Republic of Iceland and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, said: “It is my strong belief that the world needs more women leaders and more diverse leaders, people with all kinds of backgrounds and life experiences”.
“The decisions leaders make affect all people in our societies. These decisions should be made by people who have a real and deep understanding of how most people live, of what their concerns are, and are therefore responsive to their needs.”
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