By Isabelle Durant, Acting Secretary-General of UNCTAD
Launched on International Women’s Day 2021, the “Les 8 du mois until we're there” initiative highlights UNCTAD’s commitment to giving more visibility to how trade and economic policies affect men and women differently and the need for them to be more gender sensitive.
To ensure gender equality remains on the radar every month, as one day per year is insufficient, this initiative showcases diverse gender equality-focused products – such as events, videos and reports – and spotlights different contributions and actions needed to build Generation Equality. (Les 8 du mois is French for "the 8th of every month".) Gender equality is a fundamental human right, necessary to build a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Yet it remains unachieved across societies.
For this edition of UNCTAD's initiative, Lama Sha'sha'a, co-founder of a robotics academy in Jordan, and Agda Óliver, a car shop owner in Brazil, share their entrepreneurial journey and how they have overcome barriers faced by many women entrepreneurs.
In pursuit of equal opportunity
Women entrepreneurs around the globe, like Ms. Sha’sha’a, have had to overcome immense barriers in pursuit of equal opportunities. In 2014, when she announced that she wanted to work in the field of robotics, some friends and family members laughed. In Jordan, they told her, women “don’t do robotics”. “They were saying, ‘Really? Do you think this change can happen in our society?’” she remembers.
But the finalist of UNCTAD’s Empretec Women in Business Award remained steadfast in her determination to create a robotics academy for children and adolescents. Since 2014, the International Robotics Academy she co-founded has provided hands-on robotics training to more than 8,000 students aged six to 16 years old, showing them they too can defy odds and become change-makers and innovators. “I have learnt in this journey of mine,” Ms. Sha’sha’a said, “that those barriers are also in my own head.” “If I decide that I want to defy the expectations of a society and certain aspects, all that I need to do is to make sure I am true to myself,”
Against all odds
The story of Brazilian entrepreneur Agda Óliver, also an Empretec Women in Business Award finalist, exemplifies succeeding against all odds. Tired of being treated unfairly by vehicle mechanics for being a woman, she decided to open her own car shop 10 years ago in Brazil’s capital Brasilia. "I wanted to teach women how to take care of their own car,” the former banker said. “I wanted it to be a place of transparency and honesty, where women could ask questions without being labelled as ‘foolish’.”
Her response has always been to prove that women can show the same level of professionalism and deliver the same results as men, if not better. Owning a business has confirmed her belief that women can succeed at anything, if they don’t give up. “Being a woman entrepreneur isn’t easy,” Ms. Óliver said. “Especially when you work in an activity typically seen as ‘for men’ – like a car shop.” “We just need to believe, study and don’t give up,”
Besides cultural norms that pre-define what sectors are “acceptable” for women, other hurdles include the lack of rights to own property or access education, finance and technology. “The struggle for equal rights and freedom from societal norms has been long, enduring and still continues,” said Isabelle Durant, UNCTAD’s acting secretary-general.
Contact person: Isabelle Valentiny, Chief of Staff, a.i. : isabelle.valentiny@un.org
