00:09 I do remember I was a senior FMS specialist
00:12 in the Middle East and North Africa region,
00:15 and
00:16 at that time we saw a series of anti-government protests uprising
00:22 beginning in Tunisia and then was spreading
00:24 across the MENA region.
00:26 That
00:27 brought greater attention to our work in terms of financial management,
00:31 governance,
00:32 accountability,
00:33 and the political economies that we're working together with my colleagues
00:37 and how the bank
00:40 should tackle this issue.
00:41 So,
00:42 and as I reflect on those protests,
00:44 I realized that
00:45 There was a manifestation of women's voice and agency.
00:50 Women were at the forefront leading protests for better
00:53 governance and participation in countries like Egypt and Tunisia.
00:57 They demanded changes to oppressive and discriminatory laws to allow
01:02 them to fully participate in politics and economic activities.
01:08 I think that the WGR
01:10 2012 has allowed to move the needle
01:14 beyond
01:14 focusing only on gender issues from
01:18 the notion of women as mothers and from girls' education to the
01:22 broader view of
01:24 economic opportunities,
01:26 capabilities,
01:27 and
01:28 I think that its importance as a framework for the Bank 2015 gender strategy
01:34 cannot be overemphasized.
01:37 Thanks to the WBR,
01:39 you know,
01:39 the strategy was much more concrete and deliberate about investing in activities,
01:45 areas to reduce the barriers to women
01:47 empowerment and access to economic opportunities.
01:51 These investments must be multi-sectoral as well,
01:55 tailored to countries specifics and to the community's needs.
01:59 So for instance,
02:00 in FCV settings in the Sahel region where I serve as a country director,
02:05 prior to my role now as FCB director,
02:08 it means ending
02:10 early childhood marriage for girls,
02:13 having access to reproductive health in countries like
02:15 *** where you have the highest fertility rate,
02:18 and it means facilitating girls' access
02:21 to education.
02:23 There's another important element to that is about social norms,
02:26 and when you look at a project like the SWEEDD project,
02:29 it tackles all of those aspects,
02:31 you know,
02:31 for instance,
02:32 in Mauritania,
02:33 discussion
02:34 with traditional leaders,
02:35 religious leaders
02:37 on the social norms,
02:38 early marriage,
02:39 you see in Chad as well,
02:41 we have,
02:42 thanks to this project,
02:43 to Banks project,
02:44 better access to vocational training,
02:47 including in non-traditional streams.
02:50 Like electrician or woman driving tractors.
02:54 So I really believe that this has allowed the bank
02:56 to put a different focus on this gender world.
02:59 And the most famous is the husbands schools,
03:01 right,
03:02 where future husbands learn
03:04 the importance of family,
03:06 of the gender norms of helping their wife with the household chores,
03:11 and more equality.
03:12 So
03:13 I believe these are all extremely innovative changes that have occurred.
03:21 The example I can think about
03:22 is
03:23 for working on the private sector with colleagues from the bank and IFC,
03:29 better understanding the value chain and how can we develop
03:32 local private sector and value chains in Mali.
03:35 We identified two
03:37 main value chains,
03:39 shea butter
03:40 and oignon.
03:42 Turns out
03:43 in
03:45 these
03:46 two sectors.
03:47 The women were predominantly the ones that were working
03:52 for
03:52 Shea butter
03:53 and for Fogon,
03:55 for Fogon in particular,
03:56 because it's extremely difficult,
03:58 and they were the ones
04:00 that were 90% involved in the production.
04:04 So just thinking that by
04:06 Working
04:07 with
04:08 investors to develop private sector
04:11 development,
04:11 developing a value chain was impacting mainly women,
04:15 to me it was a surprise,
04:16 but a very
04:18 um uh pleasant one,
04:20 I,
04:20 I must say,
04:21 because as you know,
04:22 we know that uh when you improve the life of a woman,
04:26 you improve the life of a household,
04:29 not only an individual.
04:35 When you look at the 2022 Women Business and the Law Report,
04:40 about 2.4 billion women of working age
04:43 are not afforded equal economic opportunity,
04:46 and
04:47 178 countries maintain legal barriers that
04:50 prevent women's full economic participation.
04:53 So COVID-19
04:54 affected women.
04:55 More
04:57 negatively
04:58 because they were already
05:00 worse off.
05:00 That means COVID-19 just exposed the structural barriers
05:05 and vulnerabilities that women and girls experience regularly,
05:08 which
05:09 usually go unnoticed.
05:11 And here,
05:12 a lesson for me is that whether there is
05:15 a health crisis
05:17 or conflict.
05:19 War,
05:20 we must
05:21 meaningfully address the hurdles that limit
05:23 women's and girls' rights and opportunities.
05:25 For example,
05:26 the instance of gender-based violence
05:29 increased during the lockdowns,
05:31 and the restriction on movement created
05:33 even more barriers for women seeking to escape abuse and access
05:38 health and community services like sexual health services
05:42 or access to crisis centers and legal aid.
05:46 A related
05:47 lesson that could be drawn is that we must be
05:49 more deliberate with the banks gender tag mechanism in projects,
05:54 regardless of the sector.
05:56 If used properly,
05:58 the mechanism is
05:59 intended to help.
06:01 Ask practical questions about the gaps between men
06:05 and women that the project can address
06:07 and design the project activities and financing
06:12 to help close or reduce at least the gaps
06:15 and
06:16 make sure that we have well defined indicators
06:19 to track progress in closing those gaps.
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