Young professionals: A pledge for gender parity

On the 8th March, the world will be celebrating International Women Day. The theme chosen for this year is “Pledge for Gender Parity.” Despite the contribution of women to the social, economic, cultural and political spheres, progress towards gender parity has stagnated. The World Economic Forum predicted, in 2014, that achieving global gender parity would take a long time. It would not be achieved until 2095. However, one year later, in 2015, the WEF estimated that the gender gap won’t be filled until 2133. Some young professionals discuss the issue. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12424","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20352 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"193","height":"193","alt":"young-pro-neha"}}]]Neha Bissessur: “No gender disparity” 30-year old Neha Bissessur is an administrative officer. She believes that there is no gender disparity in Mauritius at the social, economic, political and cultural levels. “A long time back, women were limited to agricultural work. Now, women are educated and even more qualified than men. Both men and women are treated equally and get a fair chance to participate in all fields. In terms of education, girls are performing better than boys at primary and secondary levels,” she says. According to her, women have joined men in various fields. “We see both men and women working together in big companies, hardware shops, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, etc. Women are holding higher positions than men in some fields. This does not represent gender inequality but it shows that women are also capable of undertaking what men were doing. They are at par with men in every field. In politics, President Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim has set up a great example by becoming the first woman to hold this position in Mauritius.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12422","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20350 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"183","height":"224","alt":"young-pro-abhishekk"}}]]Abhishek Fowdur: “The status of women has improved” 27-year old Abhishek, who works in the statistics department at SMEDA, affirms that at the social, economic, political and cultural level, women do have a key role in Mauritius. “The Equal Opportunity Act 2008 had a major impact to prevent disparity. Whether it is lower, middle or upper class, woman has an equal category compared to man. The status of women in society has improved,” he says. According to young man, gone are the days when women used to play the second fiddle to men. “Women represent a high contribution towards our economic development. Women undertake jobs usually associated with men. For instance, they work as bus conductors, petrol pump attendants, and so on. They are no longer the weaker sex. High positions such as director of parastatal bodies, CEO of multinationals companies, successful entrepreneurs, or even Ministers are being handled by women,” he states. Commenting on the political sphere, he says “Parliament comprised of 5.7% women in 1983. The drop was more dramatic in Mauritius, from 18.8 per cent in 2010 to 11.6 per cent in 2014. But for the first time, a woman is the Speaker of the National Assembly and the have a first woman President of the Republic of Mauritius.” Abhishek maintains that women are regarded as having an evolving mindset in Mauritius. “They reached a higher status whereby the value of woman is highly considered in society. Wherever there was manpower, now there is womanpower. Mauritius has a culture of engaging woman in the professional field. Despite being engaged in work, women still have lots of responsibilities at home.” [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12425","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20353 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"168","height":"175","alt":"young-pro-sandip"}}]]Sandeep Dosieah: “Gender disparity is present” An Electrical and Electronics Engineer, currently working for a local telecommunication service provider, Sandeep Dosieah states that the number of anti-feminist and men’s rights websites has increased dramatically over the past few years. “It is a clear sign that modern men and women have lesser and lesser tolerance towards each other. The reasons pushed forward are to remain financially safe by avoiding being deprived of at least half of assets and income through divorce settlements. They can also destroy each other emotionally if one takes away the children from the other parent forever not allowing them to ever see them again,” he says. “Gender disparity is present at social, economic, political or even cultural levels. The solution is, we have to come to a point whereby, beyond these false bodily designations we are ultimately spirit souls. Only then true peace will prevail and there will be no more disparity on that level,” he concludes. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12427","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20355 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"177","height":"188","alt":"young-rishikesh"}}]]Rishikesh Poorun: “There is still a glass ceiling” 24-year-old Rishikesh Poorun is an engineer in Mechatronics and is also an entrepreneur. He asserts that from fields such as education and academic research, through entrepreneurship to political platforms, women are well represented and integrated. For a few instances, the pace is slower. Nevertheless, we cannot forgo the steady integration of women in the labour market as well. “From a very young age, we do notice the better performance of girls compared to boys in the primary and secondary education. Conversely, this difference in performance does decrease at the post-secondary and tertiary level. However, no discrimination has been done towards women in terms of access to education and equal opportunity during recruitment. Certain organisations still have a glass ceiling,” he adds. He explains that the government has also given a helping hand to reduce this disparity by empowering women through different organisations, the National Women Council and entrepreneurship programme, and nowadays, women (even housewives) are more and more motivated to engage into entrepreneurship to emancipate themselves into creative and artistic trades. “Overall, with a positive gradient that reflects gender equality of achievements between women and men, a slow but stable integration in the labour market, indicates benefit in our human resource development for our economic sector and social life,” he sums up. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12426","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20354 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"183","height":"165","alt":"young-puddoo"}}]]Dr Rawshideve Puddoo: “There is less gender inequality in Mauritius” Dr Rawshideve Puddoo, 29, works as a private practitioner. He reveals that there is less gender inequality in Mauritius. “More women are involved in politics. We have two women as examples, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the President of the Republic. Moreover, gender-based pay gap is uncommon in Mauritius and salaries are mostly based on qualifications and experience. More men are involved in daily household activities such as cooking, cleaning and ironing as compared to 10-15 years back and more women are looking for jobs rather than staying at home and being a housewife,” he states. According to the young doctor, women are emerging in different fields today. “Certain jobs as bus ticket controller, mechanics, electrician, heavy goods vehicle driver jobs are being offered to female candidates. With recent reinforcement of legislations against domestic violence, gender equality and women’s rights has been further safeguarded. Mauritius is taking measures to reduce gender inequality and it will only get better in the future.”

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"12423","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-20351 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"205","height":"165","alt":"young-pro-kenny"}}]]My passion…

Kenny Soobeersingh Dhunoo: “My passion is service to society and humanity” 32-year old Kenny is an investment executive at the Africa Centre of Excellence, Board of Investment in Mauritius (BOI). Founder of the not-for-profit organisation MYRA, Kenny is passionate and believes strongly in service to society and humanity in general. “One quote that has always impacted on my life is: ‘In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.’ I had to face many hardships during my childhood and adolescence, however, I have never let my difficulties overshadow my dream to succeed and make a difference in the society to make it better for the future generations,” he confides. Kenny has always shown great interest in lending a helping hand to others. “I am a people’s person. I am interested in listening to people’s problem and finding strategies to help solve them. My motivation for social work came from my past experiences. This had a profound effect on me and after a process of soul searching as to the best use of my skills whilst at the same time satisfying a need to give something back to society,” he reveals. In order to pursue his passion, he founded MYRA in 2010. The main objectives range from poverty alleviation, human rights to children rights and youth empowerment. “I have pursued my mission as a dreamer for a better society by organising various seminars and initiatives were launched to create awareness and to promote education as means to alleviate poverty and moving up the social ladder,” he adds.