Dubai: A major glass ceiling will shatter next month if Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman in the Oval Office – yet women only occupy a fifth of US seats in congress and on the world’s corporate boards. So how can governments enable more women to be brought into senior positions? This was a topic debated by a panel of politicians at the “18th Global Women in Leadership Economic Forum” at the Ritz-Carlton in Dubai International Financial Centre on Monday.
“Challenges remain in the workplace for women, but the key to success is to rise to the occasion and prove yourselves”, the women leaders at a forum emphasised. Chetna Sinha, Founder and Chairperson of the Mann Deshi Foundation, and another speaker at the panel discussion, took the participants through her journey in opening a bank in India.
“People were shocked and found it difficult to fathom that I was starting a bank for women. More importantly, it was a bank for poor women,” she said. “I had observed that women in India were being refused banking services because they were considered uneducated and devoid of knowledge to open their own accounts.”
Alia Khan, Chairperson of the Islamic Fashion and Design Council, spoke about her observations on the role that the internet played in popularising Islamic fashion in the contemporary industry.
“Islamic fashion is disruptive in itself,” she said. “With the help of the internet, we were able to show the whole world what was special about Islamic fashion. Leading the way were the Muslim fashionistas, and soon people began noticing. For us, Muslim women, this was not a new phenomenon; but very soon the big mainstream fashion brands began to incorporate the designs into their collections on the red carpet.”
The 18th Global Women in Leadership (WIL) Economic Forum is bringing together upto 500 global male and female business leaders, policy makers, as well as young female professionals and entrepreneurs. They are gathering to dissect the challenge of diversity, share experiences and produce actionable strategies to strive for women’s economic empowerment.
Endorsed by the UAE Ministry of Economy for the past three years, the Forum has championed the recognition of women as key economic drivers for over a decade. It aims to highlight inspiring stories of successful women and best practices from organisations that are leading the way in this domain.
The forum also hosts the WIL Achievement Awards, presented by the Minister of Economy, His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, in honour of such exemplary individuals and organisations.
This year’s conversation revolves around three pillars: story-telling, future-building, and game changers. The agenda is designed to facilitate discussion, promote innovative thinking and have an impact on the global discourse around the role of women in the global economy.
