Mentoring women to build a better world

Canadians have role to play in passing their knowledge on to others, write Carine Guidicelli & Betty-Ann Heggie.

All around the world, conversations concerning the rights and empowerment of women and girls are taking place.

This is good news, because gender equality remains an elusive goal. Whether you are an Indigenous student in Saskatchewan or a young entrepreneur in Senegal, women and girls aspire to — and are entitled to — informed access to rights, freedom from violence and economic security for their future.

Turning these conversations into tangible pathways of change is a critical challenge for all of us concerned with the advancement of women and girls.

In the Global South, Canadian development agencies such as Crossroads International work with local partners on the ground to support or strengthen existing projects aimed at increasing access to justice, reducing poverty, or educating girls about their rights. We do this by leveraging the skills, experience and dedication of Canadian volunteers who go overseas to make a difference, to change lives.

This is called the volunteer co-operation model. It shares many of the same attributes with a specific tool for empowering women that many in this province and country will be familiar with — mentorship.

In the Global South extreme poverty, harmful cultural norms, failures in rule of law and justice systems, and weak public infrastructure and democratic institutions conspire to deny women their basic rights. This leaves women disadvantaged and vulnerable to abuse. In some countries nearly one in two young women are victims of sexual violence, and one in five women throughout the world live on less than US$2 per day.

Closer to home, stories of gender violence and discrimination and a lack of equal opportunities continue to make headlines.

While the contexts are different and the challenges unique, understanding and nurturing the capacity of girls and women locally or in the Global South to empower themselves and change the lives of those around them is a path to strengthening equality and improving economic conditions for entire communities.

Through mentorship, mentors take lessons learned and share for relevance with those they are mentoring. They guide, they support, they counsel. Most importantly, they listen. Being a good teacher means being a good listener. To succeed professionally, and in the broader society, we must be open to growth. How often have we witnessed mentors benefiting from their relationships by also experiencing new ideas, learning new things?

This is another commonality with international volunteer co-operation. Canadian volunteers in the South do not pretend to have all the answers. They too will learn lessons and be inspired to have access to the knowledge of local practitioners. They will take this knowledge and apply it to their own local communities, initiating positive change. In this way, we learn and grow together.

The Canadian government is boldly standing with women and being a leader in global co-operation.

Global Affairs Canada has made innovative strides in directing its development focus to women and girls. Now Canadians must invest in whatever ways we can, by sharing expertise as volunteers or resources as donors, and by acknowledging that promoting gender equality is a global challenge with a reach beyond our country.

There are many ingredients to mentoring. Of course, this tool alone is not sufficient to improve representation of women on corporate boards in Saskatchewan, or to help rural African women succeed as entrepreneurs or young girls to understand and access their rights. But it is a fine place to start. We will be sharing these reflections at an fundraising event for Crossroads International in Saskatoon on Thursday night.

Today, we are encouraging Saskatchewan residents, and all Canadians — especially those in positions to mentor — to engage with women and girls in their communities at home and around the world.