Promoting women’s health & safety
Trecent International Women’s Day commemoration left a lot to ponder. From the loud silence of many males, to wondering if we will ever see more women representation in Parliament later this year.
The canvas of the portrait we want to paint of women empowerment will not be painted by women alone. It needs the involvement of all parts of society. It needs to go from awareness to conversation and positive action, as the passionate advocates have been preaching on March 8. They preached a good sermon. Mainly to the converted. But among the congregation are males. The congregants have said an amen (so be it), but will they share with their peers on Monday? Will they implement the sermon message daily, from personal relationships to professional ones? Will the woman empowerment word drive them to improve society, or has it been in one ear and out the other? We pray not. And this year, the message has been more aggressive. The seeds have been scattered, and they need to fall on fertile grounds to grow the seeds of women’s empowerment that will be the trees that provide great shade for our society. And men, now more than ever, need to be a part of the voices advocating for women empowerment. Some already are but we can have more. When it is Mother’s Day men post their mothers, when it is Valentine’s Day they post their woman loves but come to the other days like 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and now International Women’s Day, the frequency is much lower. If it is cool to express love for women as males, it must also be cool to show support for empowerment
HE
O NMarch 8 we celebrated International Women’s Day. The International SOS encourages employers to recognise how women’s health and safety issues can have a detrimental impact on their workforce, and to take steps to create a culture that promotes awareness and equity. International SOS’ case data shows top health concerns for females in 2022 included infectious diseases, respiratory illnesses, heart attacks and accidents and injuries. Requests for mental health assistance were common. Research shows that mental health issues affect both men and women, but not in equal measure1. Dr Irene Lai, Group Medical Director at International SOS, comments; “Organisations can do a lot to improve the health and safety of their female population. Gender-based differences need to be considered when and also protection of women against abuse. The canvas of the portrait of women empowerment needs all of us, not just one artist, to carry a brush to provide all the colours to make the painting strong, bold and long-lasting.
CELEBRATED
We celebrated Women’s Day on March 8. Interestingly, we have seen two themes emerging in recent years, one from the IWD page and the other from United Nations (UN). For me, I feel they complement each other and the more the themes, the more awareness about gender equality. According to the IWD page, this is a global day celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. IWD has occurred for over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911, supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organisation.
Meanwhile, the UN, under the theme ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’, UN Women, the United Nations and its partners and allies around the world celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8 2023, calling on governments, activists and the private sector to ‘power on’ in their efforts to shape a safer, more inclusive, developing policies for workplace wellbeing programmes, but importantly also for travel management programmes. Creating tailored wellbeing initiatives that respond directly to women’s specific health requirements can go a long way in increasing female employee engagement and ensuring that women feel supported and understood in the workplace. ‘‘Awareness and education can help break down the stigma and create a culture where open and supportive conversations about all health issues, regardless of gender, are the norm.”
FEMALE
Female safety risks are also prevalent in both personal and professional settings. Women can face various forms of threats to their safety, such as physical and sexual violence, harassment, and discrimination. By acknowledging the unique challenges which women may experience and implementing policies and training that address these risks, organisations can create a safe and supportive environment for all employees. and more equitable digital world for all. The official press release states that a paradigm shift is needed to harness the potential of technology and innovation to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda and the sustainable development goals.
EQUITY
The IWD website theme was Embrace Equity, noting that around the world, people are having meaningful conversations about why equal opportunities aren’t enough and why equal isn’t always fair. The website states that people start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action. If we truly believe in, value and embrace equity, then women are more likely to have access to what’s needed to succeed. So IWD calls on others to engage in those impactful conversations, raise awareness, and help forge positive change for women.
So back to the topic today. Looking at the engaging in impactful conversations pillar, how many conversations did you have on women empowerment on IWD? How many did you have before IWD? How many will you have after IWD? Some will say none, and some will say a few. However, we have seen some entities like FNB Eswatini profiling each year what they and other entities do to lead the way in creating that awareness. They have been among those leading in impactful
Sally Llewellyn, Global Security Director at International SOS adds; “Empowering women to participate in the same opportunities as their male colleagues, including travelling to or working in higher risk environments, is an important way to drive female participation in the workplace and offer diverse career pathways. Organisations can support this empowerment through sound risk management practices, including educating employees about security risks and mitigation measures based on the environments in which they’re operating and their individual profile.”
PROMOTE
International SOS shares top tips on how organisations can help promote women’s health and safety:
Understand the healthcare
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support and benefits your workforce needs and regularly review your wellbeing programmes: Survey your employees to better understand which workplace interventions would best support them.
Build a culture of inclusion: encourage
● open communication to reduce taboos and stigma. Discussing employee wellbeing regularly, helps to normalise conversations and make conversations, such that this year they even involved men in their conversations. After all discussion, women empowerment issues with only women are incomplete. Apart from sharing memes about the heart-warming demolition of Manchester United by Liverpool, we have rarely seen others engage in conversations on women’s empowerment this week or in this women’s month, and we can do better. We have witnessed awareness raised by the media and aforementioned entities, but we are still failing women in terms of grabbing the baton and implementing equity in everyday lives.
PILLAR
The last pillar of fostering positive change for women is one that also is important because we can talk about women’s issues all we want, but if it does not result in positive change, it would not have been so impactful.
So that is where awareness then translates to conversations and then positive change. We regularly see Boards of directors appointed, and we rarely see women made chairpersons. Looking at one Board composition that trended last year and was made up only of males. While we agree that excellence should get you appointed to any position, it is also unquestionable that many women are capable leaders of excellence. We need to see more of them being given equal opportunities.
them more inclusive.
Provide pre-travel training: ensure
● that travelling employees understand the risks in their destinations, in particular differences or trouble spots that may apply to women.
Promote health: Provide employees
● with accurate information about health risks through participation in events such as International Women’s Day and World Health Days. Encourage a healthy lifestyle:
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Motivate employees to adopt healthy lifestyle habits by providing healthy food choices at work, on-site exercise programmes and encourage regular health screening.
COUNSELLING
Provide Employee Assistance ●
Programme (EAP) and mental health counselling: provide support, guidance and information on a wide range of work related and personal issues that can affect employees’ mental health and wellbeing.
About the International SOS Group of Companies:
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We read the other week that there was a song composed by Lutsango encouraging people to vote for women. What a great moment this year it would be if we broke the mindset of yesteryear and voted for capable and deserving women for Parliament.
There is no better time to vote for a woman than in an era that needs leadership cut from a fabric of empathy. With rising living costs and the VUCA era (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), we need leadership to be adaptable and lead with heart. VUCA also describes the constant, unpredictable change that is now the norm in specific industries and areas of the world. This is not to say men are less capable, but to say that the sum of the two genders would make for an even more potent leadership potion, perfect for such times. We have previously voted for a few women, and we need to do better.
WOMEN
The women themselves need to vote for more women, and why they never do is still baffling. The development partners of Eswatini, European Union (EU) and the UN have also spoken about the need to vote for more women this year. We have been urged and we hope this year voters do.
Where do men feature gender issues?
The UN notes that for gender equality to be achieved, men must also be educated on perspectives, experiences and challenges women face and then engaged as their crucial allies working
hand-in-hand to transform the world into a place where men and women can thrive equally. We need more men in women’s days. While we celebrate all these days, men’s faces also need to be visible, their voices need to be heard. If they are silent, we will struggle to continue to reach the objectives of gender parity. It is possible and it starts with me as a male writing this article to play my part in making my spaces gender equitable it also starts with you reading this to say you want to do more to play a role in the empowerment of women, youth and all humankind.
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