The more one thinks about it, the more one realises that there is no argument that women, for sure, are change agents.
No matter which culture or what part of the world one puts this assertion to the test, there would never be any doubt that wherever women thrive, changes occur for good.
This distinctive fact was clearly stated and given the thumbs up all the way in Canada, where last week, Zonta International held its 67th Convention in the vibrant and cosmopolitan city of Vancouver.
Zonta convention
Zonta International is an organisation of mainly women, with a few male members, in 65 countries across the globe.
They work together to progress the human rights of women and girls, while unveiling opportunities that are and can be available for women and girls, particularly in disadvantaged communities in every part of the world.
At the opening ceremony of the five day convention, the guest speaker, Sally Armstrong, a renowned journalist, a global war correspondent focusing on women’s issues, a humanitarian and author, brought home to the over 300 Zonta International members, the positive influence women make as catalysts form change, both at global and local levels.
While urging members of Zonta International everywhere to strive to be those exemplary change makers in their communities, she asserted that strong communities have been built by stronger women.
She added that women’s experiences from labour at child birth alone, encourages them in their beliefs that with perseverance and hard pushing, the end result is always beautiful and worth the effort.
She commended the hard work of women in organisations, such as, Zonta International, and invited women all over the world, as change makers to align with Zonta’s zeal and work to break the stigmatisation and stereotyped treatments that societies tag women and girls with.
She called on women to help bring closure to the depravity that communities, families, work places, educational institutions and others box women and girls into.
The message of the renowned well-travelled Journalist hit the core of my heart.
One does not need to look far to see women’s critical role as agents of change in any society.
One just has to cast one’s mind back to one’s own home and the things one takes for granted there.
Pivots
Mothers and grandmothers in majority of homes have become the pivots around which families revolve.
For 24 hours, women, well or unwell, strive to ensure that everyone within their confines are comfortable. In the few homes where the mother figure is absent, insecurity dominates.
Mothers juggle with many roles at home. They are cooks, nurses, teachers, non-ordained priests,
cleaners, carers, and whatever role one can think of. They bring positive changes to homes and sometimes even to communities and their churches.
In our wider traditional settings, our queen mothers set the pace for peace and positive change. They embody a power house for good advice often tapped into. Their presence alone in a community is positive, because of the positions they occupy as change makers.
At the bigger national level, even in our own country, the examples are plenty. Because women see themselves as change makers, they strive to make a difference in their public roles, bringing steadiness and level headedness.
Cursory looks worldwide at women who have occupied the highest positions in their countries bring freshness to the debate. Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Britain and the former German Chancellor, Angela Markell stand out.
Also standing out tall recently, is how female heads of Governments in parts of the world settled the commotion at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Europe where the pandemic was critically brutal, the countries which had female Presidents and Prime Ministers safely guided their countries through the pandemic with very few deaths, compared to other countries in their region.
Who can forget the headlines that hit the world with Germany’s Angela Markel’s leadership? Who can forget the exceptional management of COVID-19’s impact on countries like Denmark and Finland by their Prime Minister and President, respectively? Both of them were women. The world stood up for them due to the critical changes they brought at a time when fear gripped an entire world.
These examples and many more are why an organisation like Zonta International is pushing against societal stigmatisation against women and asking for girls and women everywhere to be given a chance. That chance can only come if equality and human rights of women and girls are prioritised.
Zonta International is asking that to be on a level playing ground, violence and discrimination against girls and women end in the world. Violence like rape, female genital mutilation, childhood marriage, all block the chances of girls and women to education, freedom, better jobs and many other limitations.
Yes, through Zonta’s work in world communities, legal, moral and labour changes have occurred in some societies. But much more needs to be achieved.
That is why Zonta International is saying that women are change agents and their chances in nurturing such potentials should not be thwarted by stereotyping, local or international.
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