Open Forum: Levelling the Playing Field / DAVOS 2025

Summary

This panel discussion at the World Economic Forum’s Open Forum 2025 focused on the challenges and potential solutions for achieving gender equality globally. The panelists, representing diverse backgrounds and expertise, highlighted the persistent gender gap across various sectors and regions. They discussed how, despite some progress, gender parity remains over 130 years away at the current pace.

Key issues addressed included the economic impact of gender inequality, violence against women, the role of technology and AI in both exacerbating and potentially solving gender disparities, and the backlash against diversity efforts. Panelists emphasized the interconnectedness of gender inequality with other global challenges like climate change, poverty, and political polarization.

The discussion explored various solutions, including investing in education, particularly STEM fields for girls, improving financial inclusion and independence for women, and engaging men and boys in the conversation. Panelists stressed the importance of data-driven approaches and the need for both government action and private sector involvement in advancing gender equality.

The role of AI and technology was debated, with some viewing it as a potential enabler for closing the gender gap, while others cautioned about existing biases being replicated in AI systems. The importance of increasing women’s representation in tech development was highlighted.

Panelists called for a systemic approach to addressing gender inequality, recognizing it as a long-term battle requiring sustained effort and collaboration across sectors. They emphasized the need for hope and action, particularly in empowering younger generations to continue the fight for gender equality.

The discussion concluded with a call to action for individuals, organizations, and governments to recognize the ongoing work needed and to actively participate in creating a more equitable future for all genders.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The current state of gender inequality globally, including statistics on the gender gap and challenges faced by women

– The backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and how to address it

– The role of technology and AI in potentially helping or hindering gender equality

– The need for education, financial independence, and government funding to advance women’s rights

– The importance of engaging men and boys in gender equality efforts

Overall purpose:

The purpose of this discussion was to examine the current state of gender inequality globally, identify key challenges and potential solutions, and inspire action to accelerate progress toward gender parity.

Overall tone:

The tone was passionate and urgent, with speakers emphasizing the gravity of gender inequality issues but also expressing hope and determination to drive change. There was a mix of frustration at the slow pace of progress and optimism about potential solutions. The tone became more action-oriented toward the end as panelists and audience members discussed concrete steps to advance gender equality.

Speakers

Speakers from the provided list:

– Claudia Romo Edelman

Role: Founder and CEO of the World Human Foundation and Hispanic Star

Expertise: Gender equality, Hispanic issues

– Carmen Correa

Role: Chief Executive Officer of ProMujer

Expertise: Entrepreneurship, sustainable development, gender equality in Latin America

– Asha Makana

Role: Global Shaper of Nairobi Hub

Expertise: Data engineering, analytics, girls’ education in underserved communities

– Amitabh Behar

Role: Executive Director of Oxfam International

Expertise: Justice, equality, human rights

– Kate Fitz-Gibbon

Role: Professor, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University

Expertise: Violence against women and children, policy advice

– Nurul Izzah Anwar

Role: Executive Director of Politi

Expertise: Political activism, poverty studies

Additional speakers:

– Richard Edelman

Role: CEO of Edelman (implied)

Expertise: Trust Barometer research

Gender Equality: A Global Challenge and Call to Action

The World Economic Forum’s Open Forum hosted a panel discussion on the persistent challenges and potential solutions for achieving gender equality globally. The diverse panel of experts, representing various sectors and regions, highlighted the ongoing gender gap across multiple domains and emphasised the urgent need for action.

Current State of Gender Inequality

The discussion began with a sobering assessment of the current state of gender inequality worldwide. Claudia Romo Edelman, Founder and CEO of the World Human Foundation and Hispanic Star, noted that despite some progress, gender parity remains 134 years away at the current pace. This stark reality was further illustrated by specific examples from different regions:

1. In India, Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, highlighted the alarming child sex ratio, with only 917 girls for every 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group, indicating significant pre-birth discrimination against females.

2. Carmen Correa, CEO of ProMujer, pointed out that in Latin America, only 47% of women participate in the labour market, and 73% of women entrepreneurs lack access to necessary capital for business growth. She also noted that women in the region earn 17% less than men for the same work.

3. Nurul Izzah Anwar, Executive Director of Politi and former member of parliament, drew attention to the high rates of informal work among Southeast Asian women, limiting their economic security and opportunities. She also shared insights from her work on multidimensional poverty index studies.

4. Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor at Monash University and expert in researching violence against women and children, starkly illustrated the prevalence of violence against women, stating that during the panel discussion alone, at least seven women worldwide would be killed by a man known to them.

5. Asha Makana, Global Shaper of Nairobi Hub, emphasised the lack of access to education and resources for girls in Africa, perpetuating cycles of inequality. She shared her experience working with girls in Kenya and highlighted the potential of AI and technology as enablers for education in underserved communities.

Backlash Against Gender Equality Efforts

A significant portion of the discussion focused on the growing backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Claudia Romo Edelman cited the Edelman Trust Barometer findings, which showed a shift from fear to polarization to grievance. She noted that 50% of American whites feel discriminated against, highlighting the complexity of addressing gender inequality in the face of perceived reverse discrimination. Amitabh Behar discussed the rise of right-wing populism and its threat to women’s rights, while Nurul Izzah Anwar expressed concern about growing gender polarisation among youth.

The Role of Technology and AI

The panel explored the double-edged role of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in gender equality efforts. Claudia Romo Edelman highlighted AI’s potential to close gender gaps in education, healthcare, and hiring, but cautioned that with only 22% of AI professionals globally being women, there is a risk of perpetuating biases in AI outcomes. Asha Makana emphasised technology’s role as an enabler for education access, particularly in underserved communities. Carmen Correa stressed the need for more women in STEM fields and AI development to ensure diverse perspectives in technological advancements.

The audience raised concerns about violent and biased gaming and AI applications, prompting a discussion on the importance of ethical AI development and the need for greater diversity in the tech industry.

Solutions and Ways Forward

The panellists proposed various solutions to address gender inequality:

1. Investing in the care economy and dismantling patriarchal structures (Amitabh Behar)

2. Focusing on education and financial independence for women and girls (Kate Fitz-Gibbon)

3. Fostering collaboration between the private sector, government, and civil society (Carmen Correa)

4. Engaging men and boys in gender equality efforts (Nurul Izzah Anwar)

5. Scaling grassroots initiatives to bridge the digital divide (Asha Makana)

6. Increasing representation of women in leadership positions across sectors (Claudia Romo Edelman)

The discussion emphasised the importance of a systemic approach, recognising gender inequality as a long-term challenge requiring sustained effort and collaboration across sectors. Panellists called for increased government funding, private sector involvement, and support for local women’s rights organisations.

Thought-Provoking Moments

Several comments sparked deeper reflection and shaped the discussion:

1. Amitabh Behar’s statistic on missing girls in India highlighted the severity of pre-birth discrimination.

2. Kate Fitz-Gibbon’s stark illustration of violence against women emphasised the life-and-death stakes of gender inequality.

3. Claudia Romo Edelman’s interactive moment asking the audience if they believed gender equality would be achieved in their lifetime provided a visual representation of the long-term nature of the challenge.

4. Claudia Romo Edelman’s statistics about US Latinas creating businesses at 2.5 times the national rate but being underpaid by 45% highlighted both progress and persistent challenges.

These moments broadened the scope of the conversation, touching on pre-birth discrimination, economic barriers, violence against women, and technological challenges.

Unresolved Issues and Future Directions

The discussion identified several unresolved issues requiring further attention:

1. Effectively countering backlash against gender equality efforts

2. Ensuring AI and new technologies benefit women equally without perpetuating biases

3. Accelerating progress on gender equality given the current 134-year timeline to parity

4. Addressing intersectional challenges faced by women from marginalised communities

5. Increasing women’s representation in leadership positions across sectors

Follow-up questions from the audience highlighted the need to explore realistic timelines for achieving gender parity, with a 13-year-old asking about the possibility of gender equality in her lifetime. Other questions focused on mobilising older women in positions of influence, balancing high-tech solutions with addressing basic needs, and improving opportunities for women in STEM fields.

Conclusion

The panel discussion at the World Economic Forum’s Open Forum provided a comprehensive overview of the challenges and potential solutions for achieving gender equality globally. While the current state of gender inequality remains dire, with progress stalling or reversing in many areas, the panellists and audience members expressed determination to drive change. The discussion emphasised the need for a multifaceted approach involving education, economic empowerment, policy changes, and engaging all genders in the fight for equality. As the world grapples with interconnected challenges like climate change, poverty, and political polarisation, achieving gender equality remains a critical goal for creating a more just and sustainable future for all.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Can you hear me? So? Welcome, Willkommen, Bienvenu, Benvenuti, Bienvenidos, Bienvenido, Bienvenido, Bienvenido, Bienvenido. Thank you so much for being here. We know exactly that this is almost dinner time, but we’re not gonna give you food. We’re gonna give you a lot of food for thought in this session that is incredibly important. Talking about leveling the playing field. So really thank you so much for all of you for giving us your time and for all the panelists that have made it from all over the world for being here with us tonight. My name is Claudia Romo Edelman. I’m the founder and the CEO of the World Human Foundation and Hispanic Star. And this is my Davos number 29. And the Open Forum is my favorite part. And tonight makes it a full circle for me because when I was working for the World Economic Forum, and there was a lot of anger out there in the world, the anti-globalization movement was happening. The forum decided to launch the Open Forum and I was privileged enough to be part of the launch. So this is really a full circle. Leveling the playing field for gender. This is the topic that we’re gonna be trying to handle tonight. And I’d like to really welcome this incredible panel. I’m gonna start by alphabetical order, asking every one of you to introduce yourselves so that we can get to know the level of expertise that we have, the geographical diversity that we’re gonna be bringing tonight. And I’m gonna ask first and foremost Amitabh Behar, the Executive Director of Oxfam International to give us a little liner of about yourself.

Amitabh Behar: Thank you. Delighted to be here. My name is Amitabh Behar. As she said, I work as the Executive Director of Oxfam International. I’ve been working primarily on issues of justice, equality and human rights.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much. Carmen Correa, Chief Executive Officer of ProMujer.

Carmen Correa: Thank you very much, Claudia. Very happy to be here. Basically with more than 30 years of experience working in Latin America and working around entrepreneurship. sustainable development, and of course, gender equality.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so very much, Carmen. Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader of 2024. Please.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon: Thank you so much. And I’m balancing us out. This is my first time in Davos. And I am a professor from Australia and have spent more than the last decade researching and providing policy advice to governments, particularly in Australia and the UK, on violence against women and children.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much. Nurul Izzah Anwar, Executive Director of Politi.

Nurul Izzah Anwar: Salaam and hello, everyone. Thank you, Claudia. My name is Izzah Anwar, and I started as a political activist, was member of parliament, fortunate enough, for 15 years, and then our party led a coalition in power. In 2021, during COVID, in my constituency, we managed to conduct a multidimensional poverty index study. It’s the first COVID-related study, which I think is crucial as we exit the pandemic. And now I am in the policy space, and I’m really glad to be here the first time in Davos. And I hope all of us can really have a robust discussion. And thank you, all of you, for giving up dinner for us.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Well, no, we’ll go have dinner later, hopefully. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t give it up completely, yes. Please, Asha Makana, Global Shaper of Nairobi Hub.

Asha Makana: Thank you. I’m Asha Makana, Global Shaper from Nairobi Hub. Professionally, I’m a data engineering and analytics team lead at a telecommunications company. And I’m a founder of a community-driven initiative called Kodietu, where we focus on teaching girls from underserved communities digital skills. I really care about girls’ education.

Claudia Romo Edelman: I told the panelists that the Open Forum was the best session, actually the best forum of the World Economic Forum. So please, since so many of them are Davos first-timers, give… them a big round of applause for for being here today and a welcome to the World Economy Forum. For all of you please do share this in social media we want to make it open forum and share this with everybody so hashtag WEF25 hashtag open forum 2025. Okay so the pretty much the world is browner more feminine and with a bigger heart than ever before. The gender if you start looking at the trajectory of gender equality throughout the history we’ve never been in a better position there’s never been a better time for a woman to be alive not in the caves not in the middle age not ten years ago there’s more access to education there’s more access to electricity there’s more access to water and yet the the challenges prevail and what we’re gonna be discussing today is one establishing the problem number two is what are the enablers and threats that we’re gonna have a number three we’re gonna try to focus on solutions so that we can leapfrog and advance these gender gap we’re gonna have a lot of time for questions and interventions from the audience so please start taking note at the end when we have what we’re gonna have the time so that you can intervene so that we can level set the conversation I thought I would start with just providing a date a couple of data points so that we can start from the same basis of data number one the global gender gap report of the World Economic Forum 2024 says that gender parity remains 134 years away if what the current pace that means in order for a woman to have gender parity with men there’s still 134 years to go that we’re not gonna wait that long and this is the panel in which we’re gonna start seeing what how can we do it women represent 50% of the global population and yet only 25% of leadership positions worldwide closing the gender gap however would contribute more than 28 trillion dollars to the global GDP by 2025. So it makes absolute business and economic sense. Companies with more women in leadership roles perform 15 to 20% better on average. So there is a business case out there that has been made. And the question is, why are we not seeing more progress if the business case is there? And when it comes to things like AI, the role of AI and tech, where we can see whether this can help us or not, but AI has a potential to close the gender gap in education, healthcare, and hiring. But only 22% of AI professionals globally are women, risking biased outcomes. The last thing I wanna say about my community in the US, the US Latina community, is that Latinas, we are 9% of the United States of America. We create businesses, small businesses, six times faster than any other group in the United States, making us the job creator number one in the country. And despite all of that, yeah, venga las Latinas, thank you. Despite all of that, we’re the least paid of every single group in the United States, making it 53 cents of the dollar, and we are less than 1% in senior positions in the country. And there is a backlash happening against diversity, equity, and inclusion. You see it in the comments of global CEOs saying, openly, that there’s more masculine energy needed out there. You see companies actually cutting their diversity, equity, and inclusion. And according to the Edelman Trust Barometer that was launched today, there are two data points that I would like to close with. Number one is that the non-for-profits which are represented here today are back to being a trusted institution for the world, where people all across the globe do not trust their media, do not trust their governments, do not trust their companies, but they are starting to trust non-for-profits because they have two things, competence. and ethics, and the second piece of data from the Edelman Trust Barometer, and with that I’m gonna close, is that 50% of white men feel discriminated against, and therefore there’s a backlash against this gender movement, against anything that is related to opening up the opportunity for everyone else. This discussion will take around 45 minutes, then we’re gonna open it up for all of you. I would like to start by engaging you all. Can you tell me by a raise of hands if you believe that gender equality will be achieved within your lifetime? Can you raise your hand if you believe that gender equality will be achieved in your lifetime? Wow, okay, that’s about like 2%. All right, let me just see whether you’re awake. Can you raise your hand if you think that gender equality will not be something that you will see in your lifetime? Okay, so you’re awake, but you’re okay. I got it, I got it, thank you so much. This gives us a sense as a panel of where we are, and I would like to start this discussion by asking each of the panelists to help us to paint the picture. What is the real problem that we’re seeing in gender equality? And I would like to start with Amitabh, providing us with a global perspective of gender inequality and the persistence in your role, give us a global perspective.

Amitabh Behar: Thank you, Claudia, and really happy to be here, particularly in a open conversation. I’m gonna talk of the global context, but let me start from India. In India, at the moment, the child sex ratio for the zero to six age group is 917 girls for 1,000 boys. If biology has its own way, it should be almost 950, 960 girls. It essentially shows that for every 2,000 children, they’re almost 40 girls missing. They’re not being allowed to be born. And Amartya Sen, the famous Nobel Laureate, actually talks about the missing millions. And this is a trend that we are seeing which has happened over the last few decades. And this is declining child sex ratio, and we again see there, and we can probably come back to it, how technology has been misused to determine the sex and then go in for sex-selective abortion. Massive, massive issue. But if you see where has this happened, if you look at the map of India, it started particularly from the areas where you have cash crops. And in the cash crops, the way the agriculture patterns change, you see women getting pushed out from being the farmers. And let me at least say, coming from an Indian context, when we talk of farmers, it’s always a man. That’s the picture. Whereas there are enough studies which tell us that 80% of actual farming work is done by women. But that’s where you have the declining child sex ratio. And the cash crops are coming in. What are the cash crops doing? And I’m obviously being telegraphic. Cash crops across the world are changing cropping patterns and leading to massive climate catastrophes. And who’s the worst sufferer of the climate catastrophe? Women. That’s what we are seeing. So what also has happened during this period, and it’s been happening for much longer, a study two years ago, the inequality study of Oxfam, highlighted that women actually contribute more than 10 trillion dollars annually to the global economy of unpaid and underpaid care work. Almost 12 and a half billion hours on a daily basis to this global economy and this global economy is pretty much run by this unpaid underpaid work of women. That’s the engine of the global economy and what is this global economy? What we are now seeing is it is essentially built on exploitation and expropriation and what is it doing? You are seeing the trend as in I hope you’ve seen the Oxfam inequality report. Every year it tells you that there’s enormous explosion of wealth at the top level and the majority of the people continue to be poor. This year we are highlighting billionaires have added two trillion dollars whereas 3.6 billion people still live below poverty line. There’s 750 million people who still sleep hungry. That’s the economy that we have created. What’s happening with this kind of expropriation exploitation and I’ve already talked about what’s happening with with women because of the climate, because of patriarchy, the sex selection and what we are seeing is people are losing trust in institutions. So the barometer that you talk of and what does it do? People are losing trust and essentially now voting in right-wing populist authoritarian leaders. What do they do? They’re cutting down on rights. It’s a complete onslaught. Brutalization of the space of rights and justice and we have talked about it. I’ve just learned yesterday day from President Trump that there are only two genders. There’s no gender fluidity. It’s only men and women, and so on. So that’s the problem that we are encountering. The interconnectedness of whether it’s the climate crisis, whether it’s the hunger crisis, this is also about militarization and war, has to be understood. So the systems of operation are interconnected, and they are essentially being, they’re pushing women to the sidelines. Women’s body becomes the battleground for fundamentalism and for right-wing populism. So that’s the context in which we are at the moment. It’s a massive challenge, and we need to address the interconnected nature of this. What do we do? Just some quick thoughts, and I’ll end with that. Hopefully, you’ll give me another chance to talk about how to do it. Do we want to talk about it, how to do it in the? Because I do think we’ve acknowledged the problem, but I also want to say, how do we address it, at least at the big picture level? Recognize the interconnectedness, build solidarities, and ensure that this is really a larger struggle for justice.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Amazing. I want to thank you for all the reports that Oxfam puts out. It’s really an incredible source of research and data that feeds us all. But also, I want to acknowledge that you are a man that is a feminist, like fighting for women here. So thank you so very much. Yeah, give it up. Give it to Anita. Carmen, what about Latin America? How is the situation in Latin America, particularly financial inclusion?

Carmen Correa: Yeah, thank you very much, Claudia. I want to say that it’s truly an honor to be here on stage with. these leaders at the World Economic Forum talking about, speaking about gender equality, representing pro mujer and representing the women for whom we work every day in Latin America. First of all, I want to share with you that I came to Davos with some sort of expectation. And actually, I was a little bit concerned because with all this noise, with all this backlash that we are hearing, actually, I wonder would gender equality will be in the agenda? And I’m very happy to say that it is, not only because of this panel, but in many other opportunities, we have heard that leaders are discussing about gender equality. So for me, this is a very positive message. And actually, when we talk about Latin America and building on Amitabh’s remarks, basically, we have to say that for Latin American women it’s not much more encouraging. We have to recognize that 24% of Latin American women live under poverty. Only 47% of women in Latin America, they are participating in the labor market. 73% of women entrepreneurs don’t have access to the needed capital to grow their businesses. And the list goes on and on. And it worsens, basically, when we dig deeper in the situation through intersectionality, indigenous women, rural women, when we also talk about women with disabilities. So we have to be very careful, and we have to think very broadly. What we should capture our attention is what is going on. on why these statistics are there and we are not doing much about those. We are not taking advantage of the incredible potential of the Latin American women. What we need to do is to whoever has visited one of the cities in my region can tell and can share that women are the ones driving change. They are the ones going out there every day to the streets in their neighbors. They are the ones driving their towns, their communities. They are the ones making the changes. They are the ones caring for their children. They are the ones bringing in the income needed for those families. So we need to take and to pay much more attention on how we can help these women, how we can build the resources, the needed capabilities so they can really become agents of change. When women invest, they invest 50% actually less capital than their male counterpart, but their income and they can achieve more than 20% in revenues more than men. So we have to pay attention to these numbers and we have to actually support those 73% of women entrepreneurs that don’t have access to finance because that represents an opportunity of investment of more than $93 billion. So investing with a shandle lens is a very good business and it’s a very good business in Latin America. It is time to make decisions based on evidence, based on data. We have that data. As you said, we have… we have PROMUJAR, we have many organizations that are building this data, that we are sharing this information with those organizations that want to keep making a real change. And basically, if we pay attention to that data, we will see that in the current pace, only one out of the six targets of the SDGs, number five, that is gender equality, is likely to be achieved by 2030. We don’t have to prove much more. We don’t have time. We have to act.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Absolutely. Give it to Carmen. Thank you so much. You’re welcome. I want to, I would like to bring your perspective, Izza, from Asia, please.

Nurul Izzah Anwar: Thank you, Claudia. So I come from Southeast Asia, Malaysia specifically, and it’s a very important region. It is strategic, its strategic neutrality is always utilized for semiconductor-related investments. And of course, for manufacturing, and Malaysia, as well as other nations in Southeast Asia, remain a pivotal part of the semiconductor value chain. But beyond that, I think what’s concerning, you know, in this quest where you want to achieve GBTP per capita numbers, and I love that Carmen said, you come to WEF, you come to Davos, and you really want to hear that there is concern on the things that matter. It’s not just about leveling up the ceiling, getting economic growth, but also making sure you’re leveling up the floor. And up to 75% of Southeast Asian women, numbering 350 million of them, are in informal work. You have no work insurance. You know, it’s very, very precarious. And of course, it’s a low-wage economy. So I mentioned earlier when I was a member of Parliament, my third term, we did the multi-dimensional poverty index study. So we added the three COVID-related measurements, and we saw that female-headed households have it worse, and the children of these female single moms, right, they will be inheriting intergenerational trauma. So that’s why for me today, the quest and the push for social protection, safety nets, for gender inclusion, because you want boys, and later on in block three, Claudia will show this, you want boys to be part of the equation. And it’s so scary, because as what Amitabh alluded to, the Gallup poll has showcased we speak so much about reducing the gender gap, but there’s this gender polarization taking place in countries like America, South Korea, Europe, where younger boys are becoming extremely right-wing and lesser academically qualified. Younger girls are becoming far more qualified because we study hard, but more liberal in their viewpoints. And this growing polarization, of course, will cause social strife, ethnic tensions, gender-based tensions, and that’s why for me, this conversation, you know, we have to address the informality to make sure women can reach their full potential, but also include boys in the conversation so that there’s mobility on all fronts. Now, looking into Malaysia, Malaysia, we have a smaller percentage of informal workforce, 9.8 percent, from those working formally, in the working population. So that’s encouraging. But I think that’s why you don’t want to rest on your laurels, right? We want to look deeper and only 60% of people of working population are covered under our workers pension, the employees provision fund, provident fund. So that’s why for me, I like the focus that you’re not just saying, okay, we’re upper middle income, we have hit the success, but you’re always constantly looking at ways, how do you make sure that more people are covered? We have 4 million people, 55% men, 45% women who are working in a gig economy. And if you’re a great gig driver, you know that you’re not going to get more, make more money in the next five years when you’re a lot older and more tired. So that’s why for me, again, going back to the agenda, when we have clear cut policies, we introduce policies five years after Bangladesh did their microcredit program for women. What am I saying? I’m saying that in this crazy polarized with the American president being the way he is, we still have ways where we can learn from the global south, leverage from each other and implement programs which we’ll talk about later, but that’s why we need this urgency, this sense of urgency to change the status quo.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much, Issa, Asha, Africa’s perspective, yes. What’s your perspective in Africa, particularly Kenya, and you’re dealing with a group of young people, so youth, Africa, what’s the situation?

Asha Makana: Thank you, Claudia, I’m really honored to share my experiences with you. I joined the workforce in 2016 as a very young, excited girl ready to change the world. And when I got into our department, one thing I noticed in our department of engineers, we were about 180, and there was no lady senior manager. So when I was reflecting on myself, I asked myself, Asha, where do you see yourself in four years? And looking back, I didn’t even. and dream of a senior management role because there’s no one to look up to. So that’s when I started asking myself a lot of questions and looking around my communities to see where are these girls, how can I support them. So when you look at reports, the World Bank report, I saw that the number of girls enrolling to school is very high. It’s rising in sub-Saharan Africa, but only 42% of them manage to complete secondary education. And it’s an issue, it’s a big issue because these girls are facing a lot of challenges that make them not be able to unlock some of opportunities. So I went back to my communities and I visited one slum, it’s Kibera slum, it’s one of the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa, trying to understand where is the problem, where are we losing these girls? And one thing I noticed is the level of extreme poverty in these communities and the impact it has on the girls, it was very heartbreaking to ask them. The girls are telling me, Asha, we are struggling to get food, clothing, and shelter, that’s their priority. So when you tell them about education, their families, it’s a low priority to them. And then for the situations that they have, actually the boys are given a higher priority. So the girls are left at home taking care of their siblings. And I’ve seen some, we do classes with them, some of them come with their younger siblings to class. They have that responsibility of raising the family and they face a lot of challenges. So in that situation, they don’t even have hope. They know, after all, why am I going to school? They lack sanitary pads, then they miss a lot of days in school every month, they’re not able to attend classes. And I looked at it and also saw that those things drive them into early pregnancies. And then they end up being married and it becomes a cycle. It’s just a cycle of poverty. And the slum keeps growing, and the number widens. And that’s an experience I had in Kibera slum. Then I started looking back again. Kenya is very big. We have very many communities. And we always hear very, very sad stories from the northern part of Kenya. This is a community of mostly pastoral families. I got interested and wanted to understand why. Why is it that we don’t see a lot of girls coming from that region? And what I saw, I was very heartbroken. Like, the social, cultural norms that still happen today. So many girls below nine years have undergone FGM. Nine years, undergone FGM, they’ve not been for female genital mutilation. So the girls are married off, and they’re expected to raise families. So identifying some of those cultural practices that affect girls and hinder them unlocking opportunities, it creates a cycle of problems that it’s very hard to solve. But it’s across a lot of countries in Africa. And the more I visit, the more communities, the more I realize that the barriers that girls face are complex. And they require very sensitive support from us to enable them to unlock opportunities and leave us like human beings.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much. And an important issue, particularly since Africa has such an incredible population growth and so many young people. I’m going to close this round with Kate from your academics perspective, please.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon: Thank you so much. And we opened with some data around the issue of gender equality. And from the area I work in, my perspective, women and girls just quite simply won’t be able to. equal if they’re not safe. And I know by looking at my panellists, the number of women and also in the audience that I probably don’t need to spell out for you the challenge that we have because there will be tremendous lived experience in this room and I wanna hold space for that. But a very uncomfortable fact, if we take the rate of gendered related killings of women and girls, just women and girls killed by a man known to them. In the time from when we walked on this stage to when we walk off this stage, at least seven women around the world will be killed by a man known to them. That is the tip of the iceberg. Beneath that sits an everyday violence where women and girls across the globe are not safe in their homes. At least one in three women, at least one in four to five girls will experience violence during childhood by a family member. In the workplaces, at least one in four women will experience workplace sexual harassment in the streets, in public spaces. And we don’t even have a quantification for the horrific violence that women and children experience in conflict settings. And of course, we’ve heard across the forum’s agenda, the tremendous geopolitical challenges that are at foot, which we know will disproportionately impact women and girls. So gender-based violence, addressing it, eliminating it is critical if we are to make progress on gender equality.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Amazing, thank you so very much, Kate. Give her a try. Okay, so we spent 25 minutes talking about the problem. I’m gonna ask each and every one of you to go for two minutes max. Now, you’re gonna be short and sweet. We explained the problem. I wanna get into the enablers and the threats that we’re seeing. I wanna start by asking on the backlash. I think that Carmen, you are fighting that backlash that we’re all seeing. Particularly, we have one. 130 years, 34 years to go according to the gender gap and if there’s backlash against it, it’s gonna be even more. How are you dealing with it, Carmen? What are you doing, what are you seeing?

Carmen Correa: Well, first of all, regarding this backlash, this negative resistance to DAI, I think that if we want to ensure progress, we want to base our answers in data. We need to show more data. There is a need there to get more information out there. I know sometimes for us, it’s crazy. Sometimes I ask myself, do I have to explain this one more time? Yes, we as members of the community, we have to demonstrate and to showcase that we need to keep working forward on this agenda. So we need to basically try to get everybody on board and get the information out there. There is growing evidence to support this. So let’s showcase and let everybody to know what is needed.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Carmen, I don’t wanna challenge you, but there’s enough data out there about gender equality. So why is it not working and why is it backlashing?

Carmen Correa: Because in some cases, the ones that have the data are the ones that are already committed to work in gender equality. But not everybody knows about it. And not everybody is actually looking for that information. I’m very glad, for example, to see in this room a lot of men, because actually when you have an event around gender equality, it will be the audience as a whole will be all women. So we need to bring more people that it’s not yet convinced and that needs to get involved and get to know more.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Great, what about you, Izza? What are you doing for backlash fighting?

Nurul Izzah Anwar: Like, how are you dealing with this? So that’s why I mentioned the lost boy syndrome, because in a particular war-torn region or genocide, you have the lost boys of Sudan or the lost boys of Gaza, whereby they lose the opportunity to enjoy life, to live life normally like other people. So in Malaysia, you can also bring this concept whereby, because of the lost opportunities of enjoying formal education, they end up not having a meaningful job opportunity. So that sense of displacement is zero-sum. Another woman takes my place, right? Another woman in university. And these women are talking about women’s rights, and they’re being promoted in the civil service, in the private sector, and they become bosses. So in a way, you’re having to ensure that this location, whether it’s an elderly village head leader or whether it’s a young boy, everybody is accorded that opportunity to enjoy mobility. So it is far more challenging for us, because we know that women and girls have been left behind for so long. But in order to make sure that this quest for gender parity survives the onslaught, in order to make sure it’s sustainable, we need to make them part of the equation. So in Malaysia, we’re putting the technical and vocational education front and center for the programs. We are getting the young boys. You go for microcredential program, it’s fine. For as long as you have that diploma, you have that certification to improve your job prospects. And this is being done in a big way, where billions are being spent, so that there at least will be some degree of mobility enjoyed by different stakeholders. Now, the last point, because housewives, right? Nobody really bothers about the household. chores that you do. So Malaysia introduced, again, in collaboration with the Social Pension Fund, giving social security for housewives, right? Because again, you also have to educate the husbands, you know, you’ve got to be responsible. So part and parcel of that, again, is to change mindsets and you cannot ignore education, even as you introduce programs and policies to plug in these different segments.

Claudia Romo Edelman: To both. So what you’re saying is there’s domestic violence, we’re too focused on only talking about the women and protecting women as opposed to also educating men and bringing them on board.

Nurul Izzah Anwar: In England, I mean, that’s how juvenile delinquents, right? You intervene with the boys. The bullies, the ones who got bullied will eventually become future bullies.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Because that’s the backlash. Get ready for your questions, we’re coming soon. Okay, I want to talk about AI and the use of technology. Amita, friend or foe, AI, gender equality?

Amitabh Behar: Can I just quickly go back to Carmen?

Claudia Romo Edelman: You can. Yes. I’d like to quickly because I’m going to give you a minute.

Amitabh Behar: So Carmen, I agree pretty much always. I fundamentally agree with what you’re saying. But I want to challenge the audiences here in the WEF. We are constantly hearing that let’s get data and the problem would be fixed. At the moment, data is being contested, facts are being contested. It’s my truth versus your truth. So at this moment, how do you look at data is going to be a fundamental challenge for all of us. Coming back, technology is as good as the user. Let me just give you some quick data. In lower income countries, only 20% women have access to the WEF. There has been a study of 135 AI systems. Out of that, 44% are clearly demonstrating a bias against women. and gender. So and we know how AI is done. AI is about who uses it. It looks at patterns. So it’s very clear that at this moment it is the same patriarchal biases which will get replicated if we continue with AI. So there will have to be a fundamental shift of how you do AI. There’s a much fundamental need to invest in women in the STEM sector and so on. So there are multiple actions that would be needed. Otherwise we have seen technology being again and again exploitative and widening the gaps and actually being further exploited.

Claudia Romo Edelman: And you are using technology in in a very positive and actually quite impactful way. How are you using it?

Asha Makana: Yeah so for me I see technology and artificial intelligence as a big enabler because there’s some the challenges we are trying to solve affect mostly underserved communities. These communities lack access. It’s a big problem. Inclusivity and quality. So I’ll give you an instance of there’s a program we run in Kenya called in Nairobi hub called Technovation where we enroll girls to a 12-week program, teach them digital skills and then they’re able to develop mobile app solutions and pitch in global competitions. We’ve taught girls online across Kenya and have won competitions through learning online and travel to Silicon Valley. So for me I think I see technology as a big enabler because I could not access, the girls are far, I cannot access them daily. But through technology we are able to learn online and they’re able to learn these skills and apply in their own communities. There are so many tools. Right now we face a lot of challenges with resources and the rise of robotics. We cannot afford to buy the kits for all the girls that we support but there are very many. many virtual labs. So we use the virtual labs online. The girls are able to log in and then create circuit boards online. And then you just need a few devices for them to experiment. So I think AI is a big technology, and AI has a big influence, and it will help us solve the cost issues. It will increase access, and it will also make learning is fun online. The kids have interacted with them, and they enjoy connecting to the community across the world. Some of the classes are taught by people in Silicon Valley. I’ve seen students from Stanford, University of California. Every Saturday morning, they log in and teach kids in Kenya artificial intelligence. So I think it’s a very powerful tool.

Claudia Romo Edelman: I want to ask for a raise of hands. Who from the audience considers artificial intelligence and technology an enabler to close the gender gap? Raise of hands. All right. Kate, what’s your take?

Kate Fitz-Gibbon: I just love that optimism. I need to fade that. But you should ask that again. It was a 50-minute lecture. The backlash feels loud, and the backlash feels like it’s coming so quickly. I mean, when we’ve got presidents, when we’ve got the heads of some of the biggest companies in the world sending home their diversity, equity, and inclusion team, it feels like we could go back so quickly. And I think that we’re also seeing the way in which technology gets used and misused by the Andrew Taits of the world to engage boys and to engage them quickly and to set us back in terms of the attitudes and the norms that people subscribe to. And I think the challenge that we have with that backlash is that now we have young boys, now we have white men feeling that they’re discriminated. Suddenly there’s something to lose here. They think they’re giving up some of their pie rather than us just, as you say, lifting the floor. So we need to engage men and boys. We need to bring them back into this conversation. We need to find a way to show in Australia, which I know is not uncommon in other countries, our young male suicide rate is through the roof. This form of masculinity that puts so much pressure on who you are as a powerful, traditional, masculine leader is harmful. It’s not going to serve our boys.

Claudia Romo Edelman: All right, we’re gonna go to the last segment of this panel before we’re going to you, asking about what can we, scalable solutions, if we wanted to leapfrog, how do we do it? How do we shorten the 134 years for us to get to parity? And I’m gonna ask the panel, I know the answer because we’ve discussed this before. I’m gonna ask your position on whether you’re an optimist or pessimist looking at the future. And obviously I’m gonna ask with Amitabh. Okay, optimist, pessimist, and what could actually help us leapfrog or be looking at solutions that are scalable?

Amitabh Behar: Realist, but passionate for gender justice. What needs to be done? There are several ways of doing it. Invest in the care economy. When we’re talking of investing in care economy, it’s recognizing, redistributing, rewarding. It is about engaging men. It is recognizing that changing policies and laws are important, but it is also about norms and practices. It is about envisioning a feminist future, which is around a human-centered economy. So there are different ways of doing it, but the patriarchy needs to be dismantled. And that’s gonna be a fundamental battle. And I’m absolutely sure, let me just say, Claudia, I don’t like the black and whites. We are sitting in a country at the moment where the voting right for women had. happened just probably 50 years ago and therefore we have and since then we’ve seen tremendous progress so I’m absolutely sure that women’s group feminist groups together with social justice groups will deliver a feminist future but it’s gonna be a hard battle and we need to recognize that strategize for it build new alliances build rainbow alliances new coalitions for justice.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Realistic. Kate.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon: I mean my gosh we’re gonna have to celebrate the wins really loudly because the step backs are gonna hurt and they’re gonna come thick and fast I think over the coming months I’m sitting on the stage at Davos talking about gender equality when my focus is gender-based violence I’m feeling pretty optimistic right now this feels like a good moment but I think that we know the solutions we know and I’m gonna be super quick we know that we need education we need to get in as early as possible with our young boys and our young girls and teach them about healthy relationships show them there’s a different way because far too many of them are growing up in households where violence is the norm so education education as early as possible financial independence and financial literacy for girls quite simply women who are financially independent have choice and they are more likely to be able to safely leave an abuser and stay away from that abuser without having to choose between violence and homelessness or violence and poverty and the last one let’s push the government’s let’s push those governments that are on side to fund commensurate with the scale of the crisis we have never seen that before we’ve seen solutions around violence against women there’s policies there’s practices there’s things that we know shift the dial but never funded at the level that they need to be so women and girls this is a national security crisis we needed at the top of the political agenda.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Carmen?

Carmen Correa: Basically I totally agree with both I think that of course we will have to be working together I think that something that it’s very important we have to actually bring to the headlights of everybody, those companies and those organizations and those people that are committed to this agenda. Because what we always see is, are those that are on the backlash, those that are actually discussing these themes and not in the right way. So I think that we need to put them on the, the companies that are committed, we need to put them on the spotlight. And as Promujer, we need to be working together. We have been working for 35 years in Latin America, advancing gender equality, giving women access to financial services, to health, to education. We couldn’t have done that without the support of different organizations, without the support of other non-for-profits, foundations that have been working with us, developing new products, developing new services. So we need to keep working together more than ever, private sector, public sector, academia, non-for-profit. And this is something that we should really commit to, because I think that is where we are still falling short. And I may sound a little bit controversial, but let’s be honest, today, still, all the decisions are made by white men in suits. So this is not one against the other, but we need men, we need women, we need youth, we need many others, we need to listen to everybody. We need them all. And that is how we should be working in the future.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Perfect, Asha, are you an optimist? What’s, as the youngest person in the audience, let me guess, what’s your take? And what are solutions that you’re seeing?

Asha Makana: I’m an optimist with a bat. The bat is because this initiative. need support to scale, because the challenges that we face, these areas don’t have connectivity. They don’t have electricity. They don’t have the trainers. The teachers are not well-trained. And the digital divide is widening. But from my experience working with the girls who experience these problems, they are the problem solvers. When you enable them, they are able to create solutions. I’ve seen them create amazing, amazing solutions and discuss, look around them, and come up with the solutions on their own. I only just guide them. So when I look at it, if we support them, if we support these initiatives to scale, we can transform the world. And really, the girls are not asking for a lot. They’re very innocent. For them, they just want simple connectivity. They want access to a computer, a device. They want access to teachers who can train them to unlock this opportunity. And I think we can provide that.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Absolutely. And you were talking about funding, too, right, Kate? OK, Izza, close us. Solutions, and where are you in the spectrum of?

Nurul Izzah Anwar: I’m going to borrow John Mishima, his take on being a hopeful realist, because actors, governments, white male usually act based on a realistic viewpoint. And from there, it helps us plan better. Because if you expect people sometimes to just act on the basis of ethics, that’s not going to work out. But our decision, our actions has to be predicated on ethics. AI, how do you make sure AI works well? Well, if there’s no ethics there, of course, it’s going to go crazy. And it will turn the whole world into an explosion of cruelty. So for me, important to look at it from that point of view that you plan. You need to have, first and foremost, an ecosystem that allows for women, allows for men, the abuser. as well as the abused to seek help. So where do you go if you want to escape your domestic abuser? Where do you go? So I think that’s important for governments to take into account. Governments also have to energize the strength of CSOs. We talk so much about civil society being the bulwark of trusted institutions, while governments are wasting their space if they’re not utilizing the smartest, not just to pay plan in terms of utilization of AI, but to have an ecosystem that’s inviting for good things to happen. And the third, I believe in scalability. Aisha mentioned this, and for ASEAN, even when you talk about women, peace, and security, one of the things that Politi is planning is to have experts from South Thailand, South Philippines, Southeast Asia, because clearly if we band together, kind of make sure the solutions are replicated in an effective manner, and this means lobbying with your governments. You got to make sure the government does the right thing, because time is not on our side. So I hope that everyone understands you’re not just coming here, you listen, but you got to act as well, because the world is on fire. And if you don’t act, then all of us, our children, the future generation, will not have a future worth living for.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Amazing. And I, for quoting someone, I’m going to quote Hans Rosling, who thinks that we don’t have to be optimistic only, we have to be possibilistic, because change is possible. We already have eradicated in half the poverty of the world in the last 25 years. We have provided education to 80% of women that were not educated before, so it is possible to see a country like mine, Mexico, having a woman president, by the way, with the greatest name Claudia as well. So let’s see whether she delivers. All right, let’s open up for the audience here and get some questions and some comments. I have a couple of comments, but also I want to call on, we’ve been talking about these data about the 50% of men that feel discriminated against. Richard Edelman launched this morning the Edelman Trust Barometer. Richard, do you mind, if we can get a mic here, do you mind just giving us, I think that a couple of the highlights, a couple of the highlights of your trust barometer that would be permanent for this discussion.

Audience: Okay, and then I want to ask a question.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Okay, just like, stand up please.

Audience: And I’m married to her.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Yeah. Congratulations.

Audience: Small influence. So, okay. The first thing to know is that we’ve gone from fear to polarization to grievance. And fears are passive and grievance is aggressive. And two thirds of people we surveyed in 28 countries are feeling discriminated against. And the biggest joke is that 50% of American whites feel discriminated against. And when you’re in a point of grievance, you have a theory of hostile activism, which means that you’re going to punch back and you’ll do misinformation and even physical violence. So we’re in a bad place like this. So I guess my question to any of the panelists is, I didn’t hear the word companies or private sector in the whole discussion. And so Unilever is a big client of Edelman and they did something quite important on tea plantations and protecting women and said, if you don’t do this right, we’re not going to buy your tea. So that’s kind of good to squeeze. So anyway, that was my question.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Company intervention before we have Kate.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon: I mean, I’ll take, you’ve given the squeeze. Let’s go with the incentive.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon: You know, in Australia, and I put this out to all company leaders, anyone who has employees. In Australia, we’ve just passed national legislation. Every single company has to offer 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave. That is to ensure that someone experiencing domestic and family violence is not risking their employment. to seek help, to support their recovery, to support their children. Every organization, every company could do that.

Claudia Romo Edelman: I love that. And I do have to give credit to the World Economic Forum and hear Michelle leading this incredible open forum for pushing companies through your gender gap report and for doing as much as you can in involving that. Anyone has a burning point on companies or shall we move to the audience? No, all right, let’s go. Questions, all right, please. Yes. Yes, you.

Audience: Good evening, everyone. My name is Camila. I’m also part of the Global Shapers community. My question is, you’ve been talking about education a lot and put a lot of weight in the government, but also the civil society has done a poor work on concentrate fund and the specific organizations. So how can civil society can decentralize money to actually make the money arrive on the ground for the women?

Claudia Romo Edelman: That’s an amazing question. Wait, can I ask you to pass it on to my honorable colleague here? So let’s take two questions and then we can answer maybe even a third. Yeah, please, honorable, please.

Audience: Thank you. So my name’s Meledina. I’m a professor of technology and innovation governance. So my question is really this. There is less than 25% of women who are coders and we are looking at AI as the savior for gender gap diversity. If we are creating games which are based on violence, if we’re gamifying everything and making people think it needs to be incentivized, is this the world we want our children to come in? And what would you think from a gender gap point of view, technology needs to change and it needs to change quickly?

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so very much. And if you don’t mind, just identify yourself so we can know who you are, where you are.

Audience: Good evening, everybody. I’m Ishan Pratap Singh. I am a global shaper and the curator for the New Delhi Hub. Wow, the shapers are very active tonight. I’m here because, thank you, first of all, for everything that you all said. My question is, we spoke about AI in all the dangers that it can have. We spoke about the importance of education. And you spoke about how some people feel discriminated. The people who might oppress feel discriminated. And you just mentioned that we’re gamifying in the wrong direction. I’m asking you, is it possible to bring these four things together and actually use AI to support cooperation and gamify cooperation? I’m saying this because we’re trying to do something like that in the New Delhi Hub, and we need help for that. But you are the most brilliant minds, and we need to ask you how. And we also launched a project for gender-based violence, and we need to find the how. I think we all agree on the what.

Claudia Romo Edelman: And also in collaborating in partnerships. OK, we’re going to pass it on. Who from the panel wants to respond on the funding distribution question? Who has the most expertise so that we don’t have everybody responding everything? Would you like to go, Amitabh, since you have a global organization?

Amitabh Behar: I can be very brief. The point is absolutely valid. There’s at least now recognition around it. But the recognition doesn’t translate into actual transfer of resources. And there’s multiple factors around it. But what we certainly need to do is to build much greater momentum around decolonization, localization. And localization does not mean that you still have gatekeepers. It is about investing in the bedrock of civil society. And there’s going to be a significant amount of change that’s needed amongst donors who often will talk the language of localization. But the requirements they have are something which only an Oxfam can do. You will say that, oh, we need to, you need to put 5 million. to be able to get a project of 10 million. That’s not possible for a local organization. So those conversations are happening, but at the moment you’re actually seeing resources go away from particularly feminist groups, gender rights group, and that needs to be changed. But that’s again part of the larger pushback that we are looking at.

Claudia Romo Edelman: And we would love to see those funding going through global organizations like Oxfam to people like Asha on the ground who’s doing the real work. Okay, AI, there were two questions on AI who feels that you can respond them from the audience. I think that you have a burning desire, like you have a burning, okay, go ahead, yeah.

Carmen Correa: AI or technology actually. It allow us to keep expanding our impact. It has a great, it give us a great opportunity, but it’s also challenge because we don’t have as many women as we want developing technology, so we need more women in STEMs. But those nurturing that AI are mostly men. So those biases we have here, they are translated into the AI, and that is the big challenge. The other challenge we have is that how we can secure that nobody’s left behind. When you give women access to technology, to an application, to a new platform, how do you secure that they will be able to use it? Because in some cases, they don’t have the basic digital education to use that platform. So we have to educate, and we have to be very careful on how we implement the use of that technology. And with AI, I’m having a big concern with that because I think that it will be very useful. It’s needed, it’s there, but it will be a challenge.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Asha?

Asha Makana: I think to just add on that, I saw it’s interesting because from the kids that I work with, there’s a report done by code.org. It’s an online learning platform for coding. By age six, girls already have them know that boys are better coders than them. And it’s very sad. And one thing that I do with the class, because I am a female teacher, I inspire them. My class, because I’m there, they see representation. It’s 80% girls. And I think when we are up there, when we are showing them the way, they will get so many of them. And I like what you’re asking about gaming. Recently, there’s an organization that invited our students to go and try out a game that’s being developed by Kenyans. And the girls had never used their pads. And when we took them there, they were very scared to just interact with it. But after that session, right now, all the girls in my class want to do gaming and animation. So I think that exposure and us being there and supporting them really helps.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Can we take three more questions, or do you have something that, yeah?

Nurul Izzah Anwar: It’s a pitch for the private sector, so later.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Go, go, go.

Nurul Izzah Anwar: No, I just want to say that companies like Vitrox is a major company in Malaysia on semiconductor, and they actually set up their own academy. They basically ensure that 2,000 students every year is educated. So I think private sector can also benefit from having sufficient and targeted human capital, but also include gender sensitization and all that, but not just come for the sake of, for example, installing data centers without any benefits or multiply your benefits to the local community. So I think it’s a call for them as well. It works for them because you need, for example, STEM and engineers far more, but this is a welcome from all countries in Southeast Asia for that purpose.

Claudia Romo Edelman: And we do want private sector working on technology solutions that will actually just close the gender gap. If you ask any, your judge, the. show me the picture of five doctors in the U.S., all of them will be men, all of them will look like that, none of them will look like me. And as a fact, if I ask Siri, hey Siri, call Richard, meaning my husband, it says, I don’t have a Richard in your database. So it doesn’t even understand what I say. So we need them to get better. All right, we have a couple of questions. I think that we have one question on the back, please. Yes, yes.

Audience: Hi, my name is Vera. It’s so great to be here and learn all about what you guys are doing, so interesting. Okay, I’d like to know if I’ll see gender parity in my lifetime, and I’m 13 years old. And as we know, the World Economic Forum predicts that it will take 134 years for gender parity to happen. But today, a report released from the Female Quotient states that 58% of employees think that employers can close the gap in 10 years if they wanted to. So my question is, what is a realistic hope?

Claudia Romo Edelman: I love that. Okay, so we have two more questions I’m gonna ask here on the front, and then we have another one. Okay, yes. I think that, please go ahead.

Audience: Thank you. Hi, I’m Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner. I’m the co-founder of A La Latina. It’s an initiative to advance the representation of Latinas in the workplace. I have a question if you’ve seen a way to mobilize older women who are ahead. Because when I see what’s happening in countries like Afghanistan or Iran, my question always goes to where are the mothers of these men that are letting this happen? So what have you seen working with older women really not letting things like this happen?

Claudia Romo Edelman: Amazing. I’m gonna take your question too so we can close with that.

Audience: Hi, I’m Sanghamudra Panasety from New York. It’s my first time Davos, so thank you. Love being here, thank you panel. My question is, on one extreme, we talk about AI. Going to the space and making life amazing in so many technological ways. and another way we’re talking about basic hygiene, food, clothing, shelter. And in your position with power, can we find some common ground to just work somewhere in the middle? Because every single promenade store over there has AI, AI, AI. Yet we’re talking about such basic issues like gender violence and what can companies and forget what the president says or one CEO says. Why can’t we take other action? And what advice from your perspective? I think it’s a long winded question, but what is something that can be done practical from a cultural perspective? And how can we improve the lifestyle of women in a localized fashion?

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much. I’m gonna take your last question here. And then I’m gonna be asking each and every one of my beloved panelists to close us, responding the questions and give us your final thoughts.

Audience: Hello, everyone. My name is Najma and I’m doing a PhD in STEM. So my question is maybe for specifically for India, because I’m from India. The question is like I am here out of my classmate, I’m talking from a personal experience where I had my classmates, female classmates to be specific. A lot of them, they did engineering, but they dropped off because there was lack of opportunities. There was like family pressure to get married and everything. There are so many factors affecting and like obstacles. For women specifically to grow in STEM. So what do you think can be a solution or like to improve the opportunities? Because as you said, it is all interconnected, the poverty, the climate change and also the gender parity. So what do you think is a good solution? Because you were gonna talk about it and I just want to know your perspective.

Claudia Romo Edelman: And we’re in Switzerland. So we’re gonna finish on time, which means we’re gonna give this final round, five minutes to answer and close with your thinking. I’m gonna start with Ash and go. that way. Try to respond the questions that you feel that are dear to you. A couple of like most of them are like what is the solution? What can we do? And then give your final thoughts. All of that in four minutes. Asha, go ahead.

Asha Makana: I think I’ll say I’m with you. We really need realistic solutions. We are speaking about AI compute, but the basics. We really need support from governments, corporates, and nonprofits to scale this initiative and bridge the digital divide. Because if we don’t do that then where will we see AI?

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much. Amitabh.

Amitabh Behar: So you know I would say that prepare for the long battle. This is not going to be easy. Let’s have an understanding of a systems approach. That’s what we need. However, there are also million mutinies happening at the moment. Work with them, strengthen them, and ensure that they are able to connect with each other. So there are no quick fix solutions. Recognize let’s start with ourselves. The feminist dictum of personal being political should be the first for all of us. And then how do you start building a multi-layered pushback is what we need to do.

Nurul Izzah Anwar: Thank you so much. I’m so happy to hear that question. The first one which reminded me of my daughter. She’s 17 and it brings me home that you have to have hope. No matter what. And I think the fact that we’re talking about this, the fact that we’re alive, we’re here, suddenly signals something that can be done. And I remember when I was 17, it was a religious leader, my Ustaz, that told me the closest to God is one that services as many people as possible. So women are not just made to become mothers. Women are leaders. And I think therein lies that solution. the fact that you have to work for progressive ideas, for thinking. I went to a Catholic school, if you must know. So for me, again, education. We can’t run away from that. We can’t run away from the fact that we have to engage different stakeholders, especially persons of influence.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Thank you so much. Carmen.

Carmen Correa: If we really want to advance gender equality, we need to recognize that we haven’t achieved yet. So we need to recognize that there is still work to be done. We need to also look for those organizations that can help companies or other type of organizations to incorporate this gender perspective. We have to relearn and re-educate ourselves. And with that, we will make a change.

Claudia Romo Edelman: Kate.

Kate Fitz-Gibbon: I want to point out a disconnect and very partially answer your question on where are the mums. I feel so uncomfortable by the idea that white men think that they’re discriminated against at higher rates, when at the moment we are seeing the lowest accountability for male violence amongst white men rising to the highest of offices when they are convicted. So what an uncomfortable disjunct that is. I think her name should be mentioned in every forum. So I’m going to say, where are the mums, Giselle Pellico. What an incredible, incredible example of a mother and of holding men to account. If we can take 1% of the power, of the bravery, of the courage that she showed in the past year, the world must keep talking about it. We must keep watching and listening and hold people to account.

Claudia Romo Edelman: And I hope that you can feel the passion of these leaders that gives you the signal that they will not stop even if the battle is very hard and the street is very uphill. And I hope that you can join me in thanking them and thanking you for joining us in this incredible session. Thank you so much World Economic Forum. And again, thank you so much for joining us. Hashtag WEF25, hashtag Open Forum 2025. Thank you so much, everybody.