We can’t reach excellence without half of the team
On the sidelines of the 2019 African Union Heads of States and Government Summit in Niamey, Niger, I was invited to give a TEDxTalk under the theme “A passion for Excellence.” I delivered the speech in French (see HERE). This is the English transcript.
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As a community, as a country, as a continent, can we pursue excellence by depriving ourselves of 10% of our capabilities? 25% of our capacity? Can we promote excellence without properly exploiting half of our capacity?
I work for the African Union Development Agency, originally known as the NEPAD Agency. According to the mandate given to us by all the Heads of States of the African Union, my role is to support the 55 Member States in the definition and implementation of development programs, projects, and initiatives.
As such, the issue of gender quickly came to my attention.
Not because I am a woman, nor because I identify as a feminist (that is to say, I believe that women are autonomous human beings who should have access to the same opportunities as men).
This question became obvious to me when I looked at the numbers.
Women make up between 45 and 52% of African countries' population. It quickly becomes clear that it is not possible to develop fully without deliberately building on the untapped potential of women.
In the development community, we often refer to the notion of women’s empowerment [“autonomisation”, in French].
I reject this term because it distracts from the real issue. We see evidence every day that women are empowered by nature. You only have to see them evolve, even at a young age, in environments where they are not constrained, such as the domestic context, where they not only take charge of themselves, but often take charge of one, several, or even all the other members of the household.
So the real question should be not empowerment [“autonomisation”], which implies a process to make women autonomous, but how to preserve that autonomous nature and allow it to express itself in all aspects of their lives.
So I prefer the term “agency,” which is the ability to make decisions and implement them.
A great deal of work addresses this notion of agency in terms of the role of those involved in political, economic, and financial decision-making processes.
I think that agency is built from an early age and based on our ability to invest in our own development and be exposed to situations that allow us to develop our potential.
And it is along those lines that I would like to propose a two-dimensional analysis framework.
Beware, I must warn you that you will never forget it once you have been exposed to this framework, once you have used it a couple of times. Yes, it is contagious.
This framework is straightforward, and it applies to many situations in social life and everyday life. It can be summed up in two words: time and space.
Space first: when I observe a group of people in a learning situation, in a decision-making context, in an official ceremony, I cannot help but analyze whether the way space is organized reinforces gender inequalities. For example, what is the proportion of women in the audience? Where are they physically situated? How many are at the high table? How many of these women are standing, like the famous event hostesses, who are often the only young women who have access to certain spaces? How many are sitting on the ground, as often happens in rural areas?
What message does the organization of the space convey? Who is in charge? Who is active? Who is a beneficiary? Who is attending to express grievances, and who is there to listen? For whom is this space designed, and who is just tolerated?
If I see a vast majority of men, I can’t help but ask what women are doing at this very moment, which brings me to the notion of time.
An African woman spends an average of 5 hours a day in unpaid work. Therefore, childcare, elder care, and domestic work represent more than 30% of her time. With 24-hour days for everyone, this is time that this woman does not spend on learning, personal development, or even rest that would allow her to be more effective in her contribution to society.
So instead of bemoaning the lack of female representation in power and decision-making circles, instead of blaming these same women for their lack of skills, interest, or ambition, let’s remember that there is a system and pathways that allow for the development of potential, and let’s ask ourselves how most women are barred from entering the talent factory.
What do little African girls do when boys play team sports like soccer, which internalizes the notions of teamwork and respect for rules?
What are young girls in the Sahel doing when boys gather around afternoon tea to comment on current events and learn how to debate ideas?
What are the women of the world, especially mothers, doing when the leaders of political and civil society organizations meet in the evening after work?
When one adopts this grid of space and time, the solutions are obvious for each of us, whether at the individual or collective level.
Regardless of our decision-making power, we all have the ability to influence the organization of the space we occupy. Therefore, it is up to us to create environments where women are not only tolerated but welcomed, celebrated, and free to contribute fully to the community’s life without fear of inappropriate pressure or consequences to their reputation or safety.
It is up to us to convey the idea that women have a place, in meaningful proportions, not only in the room but at the decision-making table.
It is up to us to create a system where the little girl’s time is as valuable as her brother’s. A system where the girls are at the center of the decision-making process. A system where young girls can devote their time in priority to their studies, hobbies, and interests to build the capital for their own development.
To allow women to free up time, two researchers named QUENTIN WODON and BENEDICTE DE LA BRIERE recommend (1) recognizing unpaid work as work, (2) reducing it, and (3) redistributing it, and here is how I understand their work:
Recognizing unpaid work requires a paradigm shift.
It is often said that “All work deserves a wage.” Now we have seen that 30% of women’s time is spent on work that is provided for free, but that is absolutely necessary, that allows our societies to function, for most of us to wake up in the morning in a clean house, to have breakfast, to get dressed in ironed clothes and to go and contribute productively to the society. So, in reality, we can say that a large part of women’s work does not call for a salary. Still, it must be recognized in its contribution to all the other achievements that men have accomplished throughout history.
Then, it is a matter of reducing it.
Water and electricity infrastructures reduce the time spent on household chores. We can think of the example of young girls who walk miles in the morning to fetch water before going to school. And we must see how the cereal mills, which are called “machines” here in Niamey, have saved time in the processing of millet and maize.
Once unpaid work is recognized as work, it becomes more acceptable to redistribute it in good conscience and under the best conditions. For example, in designing an agricultural training program for women in Ghana, we incorporated childcare solutions at the design stage. This has allowed us to increase the attendance and completion rates of female students very significantly.
There are also employers and event organizers who are starting to offer on-site childcare. It makes sense, given that almost every working mother you know has had to give up an opportunity or a day’s work due to childcare issues.
Working in international development brings a lot of doubts and very few certainties. One of the certainties I have formed is that beyond ideologies, beyond the morality of giving women the same opportunities as men, the issue of gender is pragmatic.
We need to think deeply, collectively and individually, about the space occupied by girls, young women, and women in general and how they occupy their time.
This is the only way for the African continent to one day reach excellence.
