ln honour of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023, LMDtv recently interviewed the Country Manager of AICPA and CIMA in Sri Lanka and Maldives Zahara Ansary, who believes the commemoration is more than a day of celebration.
“It’s a time of awareness to remember how far we have come and remind ourselves to continue to work in the pursuit of equality for women,” she explained.
She elaborated: “I’m glad about the attention given to this day. Year after year, more and more organisations are coming on board to celebrate. The media also does a terrific job of propagating the message so that more people become aware of the unconscious biases that they have; and they then begin to provide equal opportunities to women – and of course, celebrate women.”
Nevertheless, Ansary stressed what more needs to be done: “Deep down, something that I firmly believe in is that gender equity has to go beyond 8 March. It should be every day in every place – not just in the workplace but even at home and [across] every sphere of life.”
Commenting on the theme of IWD this year – i.e. ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’ – she highlighted the fact that 37 percent of women around the world don’t have access to the internet.
“Technology helps one gain skills, make life more convenient, be able to engage in the digital world and even be employable in the STEM field of careers,” she asserted. And Ansary noted that – despite the forecast that by 2050, 75 percent of jobs will relate to STEM areas – women hold fewer positions in this field than men by citing an example from AI where females account for only 22 percent of positions.
“To harness the full potential of digital innovation as a means to help our organisations, the economy and society, we must embrace gender inclusiveness and equity,” she said.
Commenting on Sri Lanka’s position regarding gender equality and women empowerment in the accountancy profession, she acknowledged that “great strides are being made.”
“If you look at the professional bodies, we see a lot of progress,” she said, adding that the profession continues to work hard to recognise women for their qualifications, skills and professional achievements.
She continued: “A lot of work on this path has been done not just by the professional bodies but professionals and women [themselves] who have proven they can do anything.”
As for the hashtag for this year’s International Women’s Day (#EmbraceEquity), Ansary feels that equity “is more than equality.” She explained: “Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.”
“Embracing equity cultivates the mindsets and practices necessary to create an affirming, inclusive and equitable ecosystem,” she added.
Given Sri Lanka’s prevailing challenges due to the economic crisis, she stressed that if the country doesn’t embrace equity, “organisations, teams and individuals will miss out on great opportunities” – and they will have a cost to bear as well.
Women’s labour participation in Sri Lanka is around 32 percent and Ansary listed some of the factors that have led to this – viz. lack of affordable and quality child care; lack of support in sharing household work; and unsupportive workplace cultures.”
To combat this, she recommended a number of initiatives that can be pursued to ensure inclusivity such as training women and providing them with career opportunities.
“The future cannot be prosperous unless women continue to play a strong and pivotal role in our profession, the business world and society as a whole,” she said.
Ansary added that “if we treat women right, help and enable them, empower and educate them, and provide them with the right opportunities, we’ll be the catalyst for real, lasting and positive change for many women.”
“If you educate and empower a woman, you’ll change a generation,” she summed up.
