Sarah Poole, UNDP Deputy Director, Regional Bureau for Arab States: Breaking stereotypes and social barriers

October 10, 2018

Union for the Mediterranean
Women Conference 2018, October 10-11
Women Build Inclusive Societies
Keynote Speech:
Breaking stereotypes and social barriers

Ms. Sarah Poole, UNDP Deputy Director, Regional Bureau for Arab States

-       Check against Delivery –

Excellencies, colleagues and partners,
I would like to begin by thanking the Union for the Mediterranean and the Government of Portugal for inviting me on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme to offer our perspectives on breaking gender stereotypes and social barriers, adding to the compelling voices and stories we have already heard today.   

Each and every one of us in this room have been influenced by stereotypes at some point over the course of our lives, and for many, on a daily basis.  Our experience in accepting or confronting stereotypes may be with us for a lifetime – influencing the choices we make along the way, whether a field of study, a career path, a place to live.  

And the impact of stereotypes and how others perceive us is compounded further when it relates not only to one part of our being – say, our gender – but also the intersectionality of who we are as a whole:  where we are from; our gender identity; our age – whether we are young, mid-life, or elderly; our abilities or disabilities; the color of our skin; our ethnicity; our religion; and so many other factors.

Gender stereotypes in particular are as pervasive as they are damaging, ingrained by long-standing biases, both conscious and unconscious.  And while the specific contours of stereotypes and bias vary by country, by society, by family, by individual: it is a problem as universal as it is harmful, depriving women and girls everywhere from achieving their potential.

As a woman, a mother of two young daughters, and a professional, I was struck by the findings of a study published in Science Magazine in 2017.  The study, led by Princeton University and New York University, found through a test case of 400 children that at the age of 5, girls and boys both characterize their genders as “super super smart.”  The researchers then found that just one year later, at the age of 6, the majority of girls identified men and boys as being smarter. At the age of 6, they have already absorbed gender biases and stereotypes that can undermine perceptions of their own intelligence, limit their aspirations, and create a sense of what they can and not do.  How did this bias emerge? What is the impact of such ingrained stereotypes – and at a young age – as we strive for a world of gender equality?

So let’s start at the beginning:  why does this matter?   Because fundamentally, without gender equality, as a society we cannot fully progress.

At its core, as we heard so eloquently this morning, gender equality is a matter of human rights.  It is about humanity, about us as individuals, as a society.  It is about respect,  dignity, and truly seeing one another for who we are, what we think and feel, and what we contribute.  

It matters first and foremost for the personal costs incurred by girls, then by women, as stereotypes limit our expectations and potential.

It is also about the realities of what it takes to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  As we know so well, Goal 5 is central to the SDGs.  Equally important is the role that gender plays in the achievement of all the Goals: education, poverty, health, education, accountable institutions, to name a few.  This gives us a collective responsibility to keep gender equality and women’s empowerment at the center of development agendas, debates, plans, partnerships, policies, and budgets at every level.

Allow me to share a few statistics – global, but which resonate with countries in the Mediterranean.

  • When more women work, economies grow. An increase in female labour force participation results in faster economic growth. A study released last year by McKinsey showed that if we close the gender gap, globally, we will, as Katja Iversen of Women Deliver said this morning, add $28 trillion dollars to GDP by 2025 in a “full potential” scenario, and $12 trillion and 240 million people to the labor force in a “best in region” scenario.
  • Turning to education:  Increasing women and girls’ education contributes to higher economic growth. Increased educational attainment accounts for about 50 per cent of the economic growth in OECD countries over the past 50 years, of which over half is due to girls having had access to high levels of education and achieving greater equality in the number of years spent in education between men and women.
  • Evidence shows that countries with increased women’s participation and leadership in politics and civil society tend to be more inclusive, responsive, egalitarian and democratic.  A research paper published by the World Bank in 2013 indicated that when at least one quarter of members of parliament are women, laws that discriminate against women, such as those that restrict women from being head of household, are more likely to be repealed.  With women in politics and in a decision-making role – including and importantly at the local level – the issues that directly affect women are seen, heard, and acted upon.

The evidence could not be clearer:  empower women, empower societies.

Turning to the specific topics of this afternoon session, I would like to share some brief reflections, with thanks to the organizers for putting these issues so squarely on the table for discussion.

First and foremost, gender based violence:  Stereotypes often lead to and are held to justify gender-based violence. When boys are raised with the expectation that they should have the final say in decision-making and that women should be passive – whenever reality contradicts these views, as it does, and will – conflict and violence may emerge.

Globally, it is estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lives. For some countries, estimates are even higher, with some national studies showing that up to 70 per cent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.

And last week’s award of the Nobel Peace prize – to Nadia Murad of Iraq and Denis Mukwege of the Democratic Republic of the Congo – bears witness to how gender-based violence escalates during and after conflict and is often used as a weapon of war. I reiterate the comments this morning from Ms. Schmid, the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, on the importance of the EU/UN Spotlight Initiative and its focus on eliminating violence against women.

And both women and men have a tremendously important role to play in breaking gender stereotypes in both the private sector, and the media. Globally, although young women and men entering the labour force today have nearly the same level of educational qualifications, they often do not face equal opportunities in the world of work – including a persistent reality that women continue to earn significantly less than men and face the realities of unpaid work.  In the top 500 companies in the US, women hold only 5 percent of CEO positions and take under 20 percent of board seats, working against evidence that women in business are good for business.

As we know and have heard, the media has a tremendously important role to play in perpetuating or changing stereotypes. Images and stories in the media can deeply influence public opinion and establish societal norms. As one example, currently, in news media worldwide, women are reduced to less than a quarter of all people seen, heard or read about, according to the latest Global Media Monitoring Report. In films, women have a third of all speaking roles. These slights further reinforce perceptions of women as secondary – in the background, with marginal roles and voice.

Yet as we have witnessed over this past year, the media can be a vital instrument in raising awareness, countering stigma and misinformation. As recently demonstrated by the #MeToo campaign, social media especially can be a powerful force to change societal misconceptions and advocate for gender rights and equality.

A discussion on gender stereotypes would be incomplete without addressing the role of men and boys.  Gender equality is about transforming unequal power relations between men and women.  It requires men to question power dynamics in everything they do, or to change the way they communicate and relate at a personal, interpersonal and societal level and to take responsibility for change. Men need to be engaged as gender advocates and allies who can transform social norms, behaviors and gender stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination and inequality.

Finally, I would like to share with you some reflections and examples of what might serve to break stereotypes.

First, allocating adequate resources for programmes targeting the elimination of gender stereotypes, for example through advocacy and awareness-raising campaigns.  In Egypt, UNDP, UNFPA and UN women partnered with the National Council for Women to conceive and launch an innovative campaign which asked the country to rethink gender perceptions. The campaign was focused on the letter Taa Marbuta, which is added to a word in Arabic to designate it as feminine.  And the campaign’s main message is that Taa Marbuta – being a woman – is not a source of weakness nor is it an obstacle but rather, a source of strength, of possibilities.  

Secondly, it is critical to put in place laws that change the perception of what masculinity means and what is permissible and what is not, including sexual harassment at the workplace and gender based violence.  Together with partners, we have intensified efforts to end violence against women and girls by supporting legislation, promoting health and education policies that help prevent violence, working with national and local institutions, judges and prosecutors, and providing survivors with essential services.

Third, temporary special measures such as quotas in parliament and political parties so that women can overcome barriers to representation and participation in political decision making.  We’ve worked with a number of partners who are here today to raise the presence and impact of women in parliaments, by supporting gender quotas and women’s caucuses, and offering mentoring and networking opportunities.

Fourth:  Innovation.  The Mediterranean region is young, it is dynamic. New ideas that challenge and break stereotypes are everywhere.

  • In Jordan, we are partnering with the Silicon Valley tech giant Reactor Hub to bring a carefully tailored and ground-breaking coding school to the country, which I recently had the privilege to visit. ReBootKamp, or RBK, is a beacon for integrated gender equality measures in innovative solutions. The RBK initiative acknowledges skills that are usually stereotyped as feminine, such as self-awareness or emotion, and autonomous learning. Its curriculum changes the narrative of these soft skills and places them at the center of training for the entire cohort of students. Female course participants have expressed how this component of the course provided a pivotal change in their levels of self-confidence. Ninety-six percent of course graduates are gainfully employed within six months of graduation.  
  • In Libya, with the generous support from and in partnership with the European Union, UNDP facilitated the creation of the country’s first entrepreneurship hub that provides a space for female innovators. Through this hub, a young innovator named Fatima was supported to launch an application that links homemade meals cooked by women in their own kitchen to costumers. As a rare female technology founder, she is overcoming the gender stereotype of women in sciences while also providing economic opportunities to her partners.
  • In Egypt, together with the UK Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) and the National Council for Women, we are exploring how to encourage more survivors of gender-based violence to take advantage of the services offered by the NCW. Statistics on the impact of gender-based violence on economic performance demonstrate that gender-based violence is not exclusive to women, but concerns societies at large.
  • We are also promoting the reduction of gender gaps at the workplace through the UNDP Gender Equality Seal Certification Programme for private and public enterprises. The Gender Equality Seal Certification helps small and large companies and organizations to create work environments where the contributions of men and women are equally valued, through concrete actions.
  • And through our Youth Leadership Programme across the Arab States, we are working with young women and men to build the skills, competencies and networks that enable them to identify and create an innovative solution for a problem that affects their communities.
  • During the recent high-level UN General Assembly in New York, we had the privilege to host one such young woman in a Gallery Walk for Innovation for the SDGs, a university student from Tunisia named Salma, who with her fellow students is creating an app, Safe-Nes, to fight against sexual harassment. Tomorrow, we are thrilled to partner with the Behavioral Insights Team to co-host a side event on Behavioral Insights – what they mean and how they can be used to address the challenges to women’s economic empowerment, leading towards a path to success for women and young entrepreneurs. We will be hearing directly from the Youth Leadership Programme alumna about their experiences with gender bias and how behaviors insights can be used to overcome this.

These examples represent just a sampling of the important contributions that are underway in so many countries across the globe, and in particular in the Mediterranean region, to truly break stereotypes and overcome barriers to the potential of girls and women.  While the challenges ahead are vast, so are the opportunities for meaningful change – through role models, resources, innovation, collaboration, transformation, and inclusion – that can bring about the gender equality that we need and deserve as individuals, and as a global community.  

Thank you.