Georgina Ragaven: “Women are largely disenfranchised in decision making”

Georgina Ragaven is the Chief Executive of advocacy group Women in Networking, a post formerly held by Jane Valls who has moved to Dubai. Georgina is an expatriate married to a Mauritian. News on Sunday interviewed her in view of the International World Women Day to be celebrated on 8 March. Georgina insists that her replies reflect her own opinion, not those of any company, NGO or anybody else she collaborates with. What is your message for Mauritian women in the context of this year’s World Women Day? This is a wonderful time to be in Mauritius. I feel as though I am a part of the island making history by having the first women President, but just by having women in influential positions does not mean we stop here… Yes, we have come a long way, but there is a very long way to go all in the objective of empowering women or as I would rather say, investing in women. A woman is like a teabag – you never know how strong she is until she is in hot water. To all the women of Mauritius, be proud of who you are, never stop believing in yourself, we never stop learning. We all have choices in life. Remember whichever choice we make, we also need to take responsibility and live by the consequences. If an opportunity comes your way, which you are interested in, say yes, think how later. What is your reading of the situation regarding Mauritian women? Despite the huge economic progress that has been made since Independence in 1968, Mauritius still lags behind many African countries in terms of gender equality and female representation in decision making. While Mauritius is held up as an example of democracy in Africa, with one of the oldest democracies in the region, the female population of Mauritius, approximately 52% of the total population, is largely disenfranchised when it comes to participating in the decision making process at all levels in our society. What is WIN all about? WIN has emerged on the Mauritian scene in 2006 with the objective of empowering women, inspired by article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. A network within itself, WIN brings together Soroptimist International Ipsae – Rose Hill, Junior Chamber International Curepipe, the Association Mauricienne des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprise, MediaWatch Organisation-GEMSA and individual members. The purpose of this network is to continue to develop and expand a framework of cooperation between the founding members in order to further its mission of empowering women through networking and capacity building programmes and projects. The network is a database of future women leaders, resource people (local and international, men and women) to achieve the objectives, and anyone interested in achieving the objectives of WIN. In September 2012, WIN Ltd was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee.

WIN set out 4 objectives from the outset:

• To develop 30 women leaders per year who can influence decision making in all spheres, creating a pool of 300 talented and competent women leaders over a period of 10 years. This we have done in just eight years. On Tuesday 23rd February 2016 we held the graduation ceremony of WLP 13... Our 300 plus women leaders are ready.
• Strengthen and expand the network in quantity and quality and develop networks with other support groups.
• Spearhead the transformation of politics in Mauritius to lead to doubling the number of women in Parliament.
• Promote values of equality for men and women in all spheres of life in Mauritius

Since its inception, WIN has launched the following projects in line with its objectives: WIN Leadership Programme (WLP) for its Leadership objective. Regular Networking meetings to develop its network. Women in Politics (WIP) to increase the representation of women in Politics. Men Against Violence (MAV) to combat gender based violence, which is a real societal issue. What has been the track record of WIN since its launch? Over the years, WIN has grown, not only in numbers of members, but in requests from various public and private institutions for their various projects, training programmes and know-how. The WIN training centre offers MQA registered training in women’s leadership, which can also be adapted for mixed groups with a strong gender awareness theme, and for NGOs and grassroots teams; Build Your Business (BYB) in collaboration with Microsoft; Empowering Women in the Work Place; and Making the Workplace more Gender Sensitive. WIN Ltd is managed by a Board of Directors with representatives of the sponsor organisations and individuals who are elected on the board and whose prime role is to achieve WIN’s objectives and oversee the governance of the organisation. For every objective, WIN has a Champion who reports to the Board on a monthly basis. Are you satisfied with the results? Looking at all the above, I would say yes... But of course, we never take anything for granted. WIN is ten years old; we have some surprises in store, so watch this space. Why Women in Politics, founded by the same team, did not meet the expectations attention of women? The WIP team has done an amazing job and really made an impact on the women it has reached. WIP has one objective which prepares any women wanting to enter politics as well as advocating for voters education. There are certain elements out of the control of one’s power; saying WIP didn’t succeed is a bit unfair on anybody’s part. Have local women understood the real meaning of gender equality? Once again, we have come a long way. Look around you and see the difference. Women have, but have our male counterparts? In some sectors, you see quite a few women at the top (public service), yet in the board rooms of private companies, we still stand at some 7% or so. Do you feel that women are still suffering from discrimination at the level of job opportunities and creation of their own enterprise? This has been answered somewhat in the above question. However, I still feel that women are still not given credit for their professionalism. In certain areas, women are not given equal pay for a post that they are holding (male counterparts earn more just because they happen to be men). Women are known to be better at paying back their loans when setting up their own business, but many are afraid to take the risk.