It’s Up to the Women

New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast

Zubaida Bai discusses how bold systemic change can make gender equality achievable

In 2015 the nations of the world—with much fanfare—agreed to achieve gender equality by 2030 as one of the U.N.’s “Sustainable Development Goals.” With the approach of the 10-year anniversary of that declaration, it’s obvious to even the UN statisticians that there is no possibility the goal will be realized. Indeed, if you want to be depressed (or, perhaps, angered) Google “gender inequality” and you will learn that the World Economic Forum has run the numbers and decided that “gender parity is 131 years away.”
Nonetheless, there is good news: gender gaps in some countries are being closed faster than ever, especially in Europe and North America. The bad news: there has been much less—if any—progress in most of the Global South, although there are important exceptions in countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, and Chile.
That should be unsurprising to anyone who wanders the world with eyes open, not shut. If so, then it’s probably also not surprising that new approaches are necessary to realize the full human potential of billions of women around the world. That almost certainly means a complete reframing of how to think about the issue as well as about possible solutions.
That is why we invited Zubaida Bai, CEO of the Grameen Foundation to join us on New Thinking for a New World. She believes that gender equality is not only essential but possible—and that it requires significant systems change to happen.
Please tell us what you think here.