Lead The Way Conference commences
KUWAIT CITY, March 21: In celebration of International Women’s Day 2023, Gulf Bank’s Lead The Way conference commenced yesterday at Grand Hyatt360 Mall, with the presence and participation of various economic, banking, diplomatic and government figures, in addition to several public associations.
The conference welcomed a large number of bank leaders and officials, including Gulf Bank’s Chairman, Mr. Jassim Mustafa Boodai and Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Waleed Khaled Mandani. The conference shed light on the most prominent challenges facing the efforts of empowering women in Kuwait, and the positive repercussions of this on the economy – through interactive workshops, inspiring speeches, and thought-provoking panel discussions.
Women Empowerment
In his opening speech, Gulf Bank’s Board Member, Ahmad Mohammad Al Bahar said, “Despite the significant progress that has been achieved in recent years, women still face many obstacles in terms of obtaining equal opportunities, despite their proven competence in the workplace.”
Al Bahar mentioned that the gender pay gap, lack of fair opportunities to handle leadership positions, and discrimination, are some of the challenges that women face in the pursuit of economic empowerment. And those challenges were the subject of research, discussion, and exchange of experiences at the conference.
He added: “The large number of attendees at the conference, is a clear indication of the importance of this topic, and the need to work on providing all means of support to genuinely, and sustainably, empower women.”
Al Bahar noted that the issue is related to the desire and demands of the community – as one important aspect is working to create inspiring ideas, and providing solutions that we can all benefit from. He also spoke of Gulf Bank’s keenness to focus on social sustainability, as part of the Bank’s 2025 strategy, which places the employees at the forefront of its priorities. As empowering employees and developing their skills, aids in promoting a comprehensive and sustainable healthy economy.
He further questioned: Will all obstacles end once leadership positions are obtained by females? And what happens after that? Pointing that the conference aims to develop a complete vision and model to overcome the obstacles that women face in leadership positions, in order to preserve and build on their gains.
He stressed that any vision can only be achieved by having women and men on equal footing, as they are a matter of pride and honor. As establishing a work environment based on equality – where women are supported and empowered – will achieve more innovation and success and make the work culture healthier for all. Al Bahar indicated that this would lead to progress in society and reflect positively on the labor market and the future – calling on the importance of working together to promote gender equality and empower women, to achieve their full potential in the economy, and support the economic development of the country.
In her speech, the General Manager of Human Resources at Gulf Bank, Salma Al-Hajjaj, said that Gulf Bank’s efforts over the past 10 years have contributed to an increase in the number of women leaders in the Bank by almost 300% in 10 years – as their percentage increased from 10% to 30%.
Throughout her presentation, AlHajjaj
indicated that the delay in empowering women costs the Kuwaiti economy losses annually, at the expense of lost opportunities.Which calls for urgent action to accelerate the process of narrowing the gender gap.
She noted that recent studies indicate, that continuing the efforts to empower women at the current rate, will require more years to close the gender gap; compared to Europe, and in North America.
Al-Hajjaj indicated that gender diversity in the workplace contributes to an increase in profitability, productivity, creativity, and innovation. Furthermore, the companies’ ability to retain talent increases and the organization’s reputation improves as well.