Latin America a Fascinating Arena for Looking at the Development of Women

por Laura Liswood

The Latin America Regional Summit will examine many key issues for the region.  These include trade, employment, inc
lusive growth, agriculture, environment, human rights.  These are all crucial.
For me,  I am particularly eager to continue the dialogue about women and girls development.  Why?Laura Liswood_photo 3  Because, as one panel is titled  Five Regional Challenges, One Solution: Women, women can be a major force in a country’s development and well being.  The panel will address talent and education, health and nutrition, leadership, employment and business performance and national competitiveness.
Latin America is a fascinating arena for looking at the development of women and girls.  According to the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report, authored by Saadia Zahidi, a Forum director, much of the region has come close to closing gaps in health and education for girls and women.  Gaps however remain in economic and political areas with large wage gaps and few women at the top of organizations.  Many women work in low paying, unskilled service work; political representations at local and national levels are low.
And yet, best practices abound in many countries.  The election of Michelle Batchelet to the Chilean presidency in 2006 ushered in what is sometimes called the ‘era of last Presidentas” with De Kirchner of Argentina, Rouseff of Brazil, Chinchilla of Costa Rica and Persa-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago following her as President or Prime Minister.
Conditional cash transfers is an investment that has shown high returns and have been responsible for getting many children into school and assuring vaccinations and better health care for  mothers and children.
Several countries are exploring the use of quotas for political representation and ministries of women’s affairs have had an impact in many areas, particularly gender based violence.
Overall, Latin America has made great strides towards gender equality.  This summit is an opportunity to highlight that progress and to share best practices within the region.
This is what I look forward to and welcome.

* Laura Liswood is the Secretary-General, Council of Women World Leaders and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Gender Parity Group and will be attending the World Economic Forum on Latin America from April 27-29.

Five Regional Challenges, One Solution: Women

How can empowering girls and women radically impact five acute challenges facing Latin America?

The following dimensions were addressed:

• Talent and education
• Health and nutrition
• Leadership
• Employment and business performance
• National competitiveness

Key Points

• Taking advantage of the underutilized investment in women’s education can help Latin America face the worldwide talent crunch.
• Women in leadership positions benefit companies and countries. Quotas might be helpful.
• The gap between education and attainment needs to be closed. Businesses and governments should encourage flexible labour policies.
• Access, quality and empowerment are needed to improve women’s health, with positive impacts for the rest of society.

Synopsis
Latin America has succeeded in closing the education gap between women and men, with women now more educated than men in many countries. But women continue to lag in economic and political indicators, showing that, contrary to earlier belief, education is not enough. Changes in the workplace and the wider world make this gap an increasing problem, not just for women, but for companies and countries. Changes in technology are creating an increasing talent mismatch and a bifurcated economy, with highly trained professionals in high demand, but less educated workers becoming superfluous. This worldwide trend is happening especially quickly in Latin America. In some highly skilled professions in Brazil, labour shortages have led to wage inflation of over 25% a year.
Women in Latin America, despite having on average higher educational levels than men, have lower workforce participation. More highly educated women than men are outside the labour force. These women are the most evident and underutilized resources for countries to tap as they confront a talent crunch. Marriage and especially motherhood reduce workforce participation in Latin America, but this need not be the case. In some countries outside the region, such as Israel and Hungary, mothers have a higher level of workforce participation than childless women. Policies should encourage flexible workplaces. Companies should examine their policies for ones that, even if unintentionally, make it harder for women to balance work and family. Subsidized day-care centres can help women remain in the labour force and often have great benefits for children.
Women’s under-representation in Latin America’s labour force is particularly severe in leadership positions. Studies performed by Scandinavian countries and the United Nations show multiple advantages to corporate and national governance when a significant number of women are in leadership positions. Facilitating the inclusion of women in legislatures and corporate boards can be a competitive advantage. Although controversy surrounds the subject, quotas to ensure women’s participation have had good results in several countries. A focus on women’s health brings competitive advantages, as healthy women tend to have healthier children who attain higher levels of educational and economic achievement. To improve women’s health, especially in the key areas of maternal mortality rates, chronic diseases and malnutrition, access, quality and empowerment are needed. Financial resources must be available for women to access quality healthcare, and they must have the power to make decisions over their own health and bodies. Chronic diseases not only impact women as victims, but women also often must leave the workforce to care for sick or aging relatives. With chronic diseases spreading rapidly in Latin America, which also has a rapidly aging population, addressing these issues is crucial to women in the workforce and to the region’s overall well-being and economic competitiveness.



Session Panellists

• Laura Alfaro Maykall, Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy of Costa Rica; Young Global Leader
• Maria Cristina Frias, Member of the Board and Columnist, Folha de São Paulo, Brazil
• Ricardo Hausmann, Director, Center for International Development, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA; Global Agenda Council on Competitiveness
• Jonas Prising, President, Americas, ManpowerGroup, USA
• Mirta Roses Periago, Regional Director, World Health Organization, The Americas, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Washington DC; Global Agenda Council on Chronic Diseases & Well-being

Opening Remarks by
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago

Moderated by
Laura Liswood, Secretary-General, Council of Women World Leaders, USA; Global Agenda Council on Women's Empowerment

Disclosures
This summary was prepared by Dan Horch. The views expressed are those of certain participants in the discussion and do not necessarily reflect the views of all participants or of the World Economic Forum. Copyright 2011 World Economic Forum
This material may be copied, photocopied, duplicated and shared, provided that it is clearly attributed to the World Economic Forum. This material may not be used for commercial purposes.

Keywords: women, education, health, competitiveness, talent 

Cf. Five Regional Challenges, One Solution: Women  (28.04.2011)

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