Gender mainstreaming is an important perspective that aims to promote gender equality across the world with the hope to offer men and women, boys and girls, equal opportunities in both the public and private sectors. Through gender mainstreaming, countries all over the world have the potential for economic growth, seeing that women-led organisations and households function just as well as men-led ones. But, how do we do that? This article will explore how various stakeholders, from government straight through to citizens, can contribute to it within their circles.
Education Leads to Elevation
Teaching is one of the best ways we can ensure a future where women are as skilled as men. South Africa’s IT industry is one industry that has taken gender mainstreaming by storm. With IT, more so coding careers being in high demand, countries all over the world have taken to offering accessible learning opportunities to inspire young people to join the industry. This provided young girls all over the world an opportunity to learn about the IT industry and to inspire more girl coders. One such example is a coding programme called GirlCode, which aims to “develop and deliver skills training programs in the software development industry”. They currently have 62 000 girl coders under their belt, shifting the narrative and helping paint a new one, one code at a time. GirlCode and other initiatives of this nature also offer opportunities for skilled individuals to donate their time, skills, or resources to help reach more young girls. If you cannot get involved on a large scale, there are always small steps to take to get there.
Let There Be Leading Ladies
The Covid-19 ‘era’ has shown us how these women-led countries have been handling the pandemic. Though there are just 19 out of almost 200 women-led countries, their quick response to the pandemic, earlier lockdown, and restrictions have managed to lower infection and death rates. With that said, it shows we can entrust women to offer great leadership, which will lead us into a space where gender mainstreaming is made commonplace in an impactful way.
Support, The DBSA Way
There is visible growth in the small businesses sector, offering more women opportunities to lead and own their own businesses, creating employment opportunities, providing products and services, and giving the economy the boost it needs. At DBSA, a development finance institution, we understand this fully and have dedicated ourselves to providing women-led businesses with support. Gender mainstreaming needs us all to play a part at all times. The future is evolving, and it wouldn’t be fair to the world, women and our economy if we didn’t offer women and girls the opportunity to live and create the kind of world that is inspiring and strives to break down the barriers that hinder their success.