Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women (Photo: UN Women) Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – Many delegates to the2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum in Vietnam’s central Hue city emphasised theneed to eradicate biases against women and to empower them in order to boostdevelopment.
Speaking with reporters the forum’s sidelines, LakshmiPuri, Assistant Secretary-General ofthe United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, said therole of women in the household economy has traditionally been looked down inmany societies.
“In rural areas, women work in the farms but are unpaid.They go and bring water where water is not provided on the tap. They bringfuel, they travel many miles to bring wood for burning in the stoves. There areso many aspects of work that women perform which is called unpaid care anddomestic work which is valued at 16 trillion USD, but which has not beenrecognised. So that’s what really needs to change,” she emphasised.
She added that people need to recognise the work women dosuch as work in the home. They also need to recognise that women have a rightto work in the productive sectors.
“I was very happy to hear today that Vietnam has many womenin the private sector who are in leadership positions. But we really need allover the world as well as in Vietnam to reach a 50-50, a Planet 50-50 in termsof leadership and management,” Puri noted.
Speaking with reporters the forum’s sidelines, LakshmiPuri, Assistant Secretary-General ofthe United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, said therole of women in the household economy has traditionally been looked down inmany societies.
“In rural areas, women work in the farms but are unpaid.They go and bring water where water is not provided on the tap. They bringfuel, they travel many miles to bring wood for burning in the stoves. There areso many aspects of work that women perform which is called unpaid care anddomestic work which is valued at 16 trillion USD, but which has not beenrecognised. So that’s what really needs to change,” she emphasised.
She added that people need to recognise the work women dosuch as work in the home. They also need to recognise that women have a rightto work in the productive sectors.
“I was very happy to hear today that Vietnam has many womenin the private sector who are in leadership positions. But we really need allover the world as well as in Vietnam to reach a 50-50, a Planet 50-50 in termsof leadership and management,” Puri noted.
[High-level dialogue suggests policies on women’s empowerment]
Echoing the view, Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls SharmanStone said if women do not participate shoulder to shoulder with men as equalas in leadership and economic empowerment, countries will not grow economicallybecause “we are missing on half of the population, innovation, energy and workcapacity.”
According to the ambassador, it is ideal to have at least 50percent of representatives in parliaments being women. It’s a goal, a strategythat hasn’t been achieved yet. No country in the Pacific region has achievedthat yet.
“But I think it would be the outcome for the 21st century, later in our century,” she noted.
“Women are not super human. We cannot have women doingeverything. So men will need to convince that they should also share inparenting. Men are brilliant fathers, just like women are brilliant mothers.”
The ambassador said if women go into business, men shouldsupport them in their families. Women should be in the army, the air force andthe police. They should also be captains of industry, running micro and bigbusinesses.
“There’s nothing that women can’t do, there is nothing mencan’t do,” she said, adding that the APEC region should strive to have women tohave equal opportunity, both at home and at work.
Rhodora T.Masilang-Bucoy, Chairperson ofthe Philippine Commission on Women, said if women are still tied to thehome, to their care work and not productive work, this is a very significantloss in terms of productive resources.
She said: “It is very important to give them voice, makethem participate in the decision making, then governments provide them enablingmechanisms such as market, finance, logistics, and of course, access touncontrolled resources.”
“Women, because of our nurturing characteristic, because ofour patience, because of our hard work, because of our very important role inthe survival of the families, we have these characteristics and creativity thatwe need to empower our society and help improve our economy.”
Bucoy also pointedout that there are still a lot of culture, stereotype and biases amongmen that makes them not see the important role of women. She noted: “We have tochange attitude of men so that they will look at women as a very importantpartner in development.”
The 2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum was held in Huecity, Thua Thien-Hue province, from September 26 to 29 under the theme“enhancing women’s inclusion and economic empowerment in a changing world”. It waspart of a series of events hosted by Vietnam during the APEC Year 2017.-VNA
Echoing the view, Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls SharmanStone said if women do not participate shoulder to shoulder with men as equalas in leadership and economic empowerment, countries will not grow economicallybecause “we are missing on half of the population, innovation, energy and workcapacity.”
According to the ambassador, it is ideal to have at least 50percent of representatives in parliaments being women. It’s a goal, a strategythat hasn’t been achieved yet. No country in the Pacific region has achievedthat yet.
“But I think it would be the outcome for the 21st century, later in our century,” she noted.
“Women are not super human. We cannot have women doingeverything. So men will need to convince that they should also share inparenting. Men are brilliant fathers, just like women are brilliant mothers.”
The ambassador said if women go into business, men shouldsupport them in their families. Women should be in the army, the air force andthe police. They should also be captains of industry, running micro and bigbusinesses.
“There’s nothing that women can’t do, there is nothing mencan’t do,” she said, adding that the APEC region should strive to have women tohave equal opportunity, both at home and at work.
Rhodora T.Masilang-Bucoy, Chairperson ofthe Philippine Commission on Women, said if women are still tied to thehome, to their care work and not productive work, this is a very significantloss in terms of productive resources.
She said: “It is very important to give them voice, makethem participate in the decision making, then governments provide them enablingmechanisms such as market, finance, logistics, and of course, access touncontrolled resources.”
“Women, because of our nurturing characteristic, because ofour patience, because of our hard work, because of our very important role inthe survival of the families, we have these characteristics and creativity thatwe need to empower our society and help improve our economy.”
Bucoy also pointedout that there are still a lot of culture, stereotype and biases amongmen that makes them not see the important role of women. She noted: “We have tochange attitude of men so that they will look at women as a very importantpartner in development.”
The 2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum was held in Huecity, Thua Thien-Hue province, from September 26 to 29 under the theme“enhancing women’s inclusion and economic empowerment in a changing world”. It waspart of a series of events hosted by Vietnam during the APEC Year 2017.-VNA
VNA
