From adversity to incredible opportunity
IMRANA Jalal has no regrets about being “indirectly” forced out of Fiji in 2010. In fact, her leaving opened up doors and opportunities that she otherwise may not have explored, let alone been exposed to.
However, there were mixed emotions — the excitement of a new job in a foreign land wrestled against leaving her son Roma, who was six at the time, and husband Ratu Sakiusa Tuisolia who was facing charges in court.
The challenge of working at the Asia Development Bank as a Social Development Specialist (Gender & Development) beckoned but the thought of leaving Tu Saki when he was going through challenges was difficult to say the least.
“It is true that I was indirectly forced to leave my beloved Fiji,” she said.
“But from that adversity came incredible opportunity, for both my husband, Tu Saki and I.
“I remember flying out to Manila on June 10, 2010, leaving him and Roma behind and crying my heart out in the Korean Airlines toilet.
“Tu Saki was facing additional charges and was unable to leave, although I returned twice to face court hearings in late 2010.
“Gibraan and Shaquille were already safely at boarding school in Brisbane by then.”
Despite the upheaval caused by the 2006 coup executed by then army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama and the impact on her and Tu Saki’s lives and their family — Imrana said she had learnt to move on.
“I have no lingering bitterness about that now.
“Before Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi died he told me he was happy that I was not bitter about the past.
“I told him that I was too shallow to hold on to any bitterness! He laughed uproariously.”
She dived into her ADB role and immersed herself in her work, which did not leave much time for reflection and regret. Her close friend and feminist mentor Shireen Lateef, also at ADB, helped her through the tough days.
“Value your girlfriends, they are the very best gifts from heaven,” says Imrana. “I always make time for them no matter how busy I am.
“Once my husband and Roma arrived in Manila in January 2011, I was fine.
“Hard work and advancement filled up the holes in my life.
“My work has been incredibly interesting and satisfying for me overall, and I have learnt so much that I would not have learnt had I remained in Fiji.
“I shake my head with wonder now thinking where my journey has taken me.
“From Fiji, to the Pacific subregion, to the Asian region and now to the global level. I have been very lucky.”
Imrana said if there was one message she could share with the youth it was this — never be afraid to make mistakes.
“I’d like to believe I have learnt from every mistake I have made and every personal loss that I have incurred.
“My advice to young people would be not to fear making mistakes, just be sure to learn from them and not make the same mistake again.”
Imrana left Manila and the ADB and headed for the World Bank in Washington DC, United States, in January 2018.
Her experience as a principal social development specialist at the ADB had allowed her to make a direct positive impact on the lives of women.
“ADB is owned by 67 member countries, 48 from the Asia and Pacific region.
“It loans money to developing country members and provides grants for technical assistance.
“My job was to ensure that gender equality was mainstreamed into 45 per cent of ADB’s loans and investments.
“For example, when ADB supported the Fiji Urban Water Supply Program, we had to ensure that gender designs were integrated in the program through a gender action plan with quotas and targets for women for jobs, their voice and empowerment, agency and other practical and strategic benefits.”
Imrana said she loved her job at ADB because it gave her some leverage to really push for women’s equality through investments.
“For example, if a country wanted to borrow money for technical and vocational training, we had leverage to require the borrower to ensure that a minimum percentage of scholarships and eventually jobs, even in the non-traditional sectors, went to females.
“We had a real opportunity to make a powerful and substantial difference.
“Money in the hands of women is the greatest equaliser. Go get the money girls! Don’t rely on any man, no matter how good he is. That may not always remain that way!
“ADB was a great employer to me, and a force for good in terms of gender equality.”
Although they were far from home, Tu Saki and Imrana still maintained strong links to Fiji.
“One of the highlights of our years in Manila was the annual visit of the Suva Golden Oldies rugby team, the club that Tu Saki founded, to play in the Manila Rugby 10s.
“Half the team would stay on with us after the tournament for a week and we had mattresses all around the house for sleeping. It was great fun for us and taught me how to be a good rugby wife!
“Lots of big rugby men snoring at night in unison after having consumed huge pots of palau!”
In January 2018 Imrana joined the World Bank Group as a Member of its three-member Inspection Panel and became its Chair in December 2018.
This made Imrana a vicepresident of the Bank and part of the senior management and leadership.
In this capacity Imrana reports directly to the 25-member board — not bad for a girl who once scrubbed driveways and lived on a goat farm in Wainadoi.
The WBG has 189 member countries and does similar work to ADB, but on a bigger scale.
The panel Imrana is part of, is the bank’s complaints and accountability mechanism and tribunal, an impartial factfinding body, independent from the World Bank management and staff, which receives complaints from people and communities who believe that they have been, or are likely to be, adversely affected by bank-funded projects.
“We investigate bank projects, and claims of harm to people or the environment and review whether the bank followed its environmental and social policies. We then report our findings to the World Bank board.”
“We have a team of secretariat staff and consultants who support the work.
“This job is about the governance and accountability of development and it gives a platform to people to complain about the projects of the World Bank.”
In the past year Imrana’s work has taken her to investigations around Poland’s Odra-Vistula River, a dam in the River Nile in Uganda, and a water project amongst the Adivasi tribal peoples of Jharkhand in India. Next month she will be at work in the UNESCO-protected Sinharaja Forest in Sri Lanka.
Imrana loves the work, and relishes in the new challenges she faces every day.
“It’s a job that requires a multi-disciplinary background and no single academic degree or job experience prepares one for such a job. It is quite unique in that sense.
“A high degree of public relations and political skills are needed, and being able to manage Board relationships with developed donor (Part 1) countries, and developing borrower (Part 2) countries, who may or may not always want the same things. Quite fascinating really.”
“During my third interview, this time face-to-face in Washington, with the seven-member interview panel of board members and VPs, I told them quite candidly, that for someone like me, from a very small country which is a small player on the global field, to even get to this final stage was gratifying.
“Even if I didn’t get the job, I would be happy to have made it this far, given the rigorous competitive process.”
She said her journey showed that Fiji citizens could compete on an equitable basis against people from big countries.
“However, my nationality played no part in getting the job, as President Jim Kim who interviewed me in the final process pointed out, as it is not a country position, like some top positions in the UN.
“I hope that one day I can bring what I learnt at ADB and the World Bank back to the Pacific, and use it to help its development.
“I know that sounds corny and maybe cliched but it’s also true. I am so grateful for the privilege of my work and the opportunities I have been given, and all I can wish for now is to forward to other younger women, and I am trying to do that already.
“I have never been able to do a mainstream job, I have always been driven by larger development goals, it has to be about the bigger picture. I would be bored and unhappy otherwise.
“It is what has made my life complex but also deeply satisfying. You don’t appreciate the good and amazing things in life unless you have lost or suffered.”
■ Tomorrow: Part 12 — Final thoughts, women and leadership, tips for young women.