What Drives Empowerment? – An International Women's Day Live Chat

FEATURING
  • Rachel Kyte
    Vice President of Sustainable Development, World Bank Group
  • Jeni Klugman
    World Bank Director of Gender and Development
  • Maria Beatriz Orlando
    Gender Expert, Co-author of "On Norms and Agency: Conversations with Women and Men in 20 Countries"
  • Patti Petesch
    Gender Expert, Co-author of "On Norms and Agency: Conversations with Women and Men in 20 Countries"

DATE: March 8, 2013
TIME: 9:30 a.m. EST (DC time), 14:30 GMT (Convert Time)
LOCATION: Online

On March 8 we held a live chat on gender and empowerment. In the run-up to International Women's Day, our specialist panel and field researchers answered questions and heard stories about how women and men become empowered and overcome the challenges posed by gender norms.

In our gender study, "On Norms and Agency: Conversations with Women and Men in 20 Countries," we asked 4,000 men and women in 20 countries about their sense of empowerment and how gender norms influence their aspirations and opportunities. We found women's sense of empowerment growing in communities around the world. At the same time, traditional gender norms still persist.

During this live chat, we explored stories from our Online audience along with the stories that came out of our study to identify successful paths to empowerment for all.

Watch a recap of the live chat below


Read what others are asking
What essentially is "empowerment"
Brown Cow
United States
What are the key factors used to measure the status of women's empowerment around the world?
Jaclyn
United States
Awareness,Awakeness , Self Power, I am What,I am
Knows they are no limit to what you are capable to.Courage,Love,Knowledge,
serge Bouchard
Canada
We believe that women can be empowered through knowledge. They have to show eagerness to learn. Even if there are no local role models there are many globally. Learning about the role models and about women's inherent powers, and asserting their presence amidst men can empower women.
WomensPowerHub
United Kingdom
the only way to empower women is to enhance opportunities for them in rural as well as urban area and make them aware of there rights..
the work of women shouldn't be limited to kitchen and house door.
sandy
India
I looked at the graphic of characteristics of good wife and good husband and could not help myself thinking, women seem to be empowered in every aspect of life. That kind of empowerment does not occur to men. Is that really so?
Syanne
United Kingdom
By breaking through the stereotypes that society tries to bind us by.
Sher Zaman
Canada
have time to each other
rizza eco
Philippines
Who incharge of the crisis at whole Africa and when violent against women and cheldren will stop and how to get real effort and time for their rights !
Face L Smael
Ethiopia
Declaration !
Nobody born without Queen Mam .so, you have to respect women rights at all becuase whoever that Woman you hurt , she has same. Feelin of your Queen Mam .
Face L Smael
Ethiopia
Empowerment isn’t easy when girls see their mothers doing only domestic work and dominated by the father’s will. How do we bring woman role models into their lives, especially in rural communities?
Neema
Tanzania
Education and awareness are the key to power.
Ali Shahidy
Afghanistan
Opportunity to rasie your family unity and love.because family is the most important unit in our society.
chika Uzoka
Nigeria
proper participation men ans women, leadship qauality, promote education and opprtunity. proper responibility
puja singh
Afghanistan
Women and men can become more powerful and free once they let go of their fear of making mistakes or being wrong. Knowledge makes you powerful and allows a person to see things differently.

Opportunities are always good but not enough.
Nadia Arif
United States
A man or a woman can become free through proper education and equal opportunities in every area.Another hindrance is religious belief and one can do little or nothing regarding this.
John Cross
Nigeria
Through quality Educatio and sense of belonging in his domain(Environment where he see opportunities)
Ajoge muhammed
Nigeria
since we live in A World of Difference..women rights "where not given but are taken" become the desired opportunities..I strongly believe that Equal rights is the button that controls the degree of freedom and power for both genders in all societies.
Azizah Alogali
Saudi Arabia
Why the gender specialists need to search for economic benefits to mainstream gender, especially in infrastructure sectors? Why we have to show benefits at all?
Luz Caballero
Spain
Taking into account - nature of government in client countries, the number of women in state, the wordings of gender equality being advocated, the willingness of government bureaucrats to work with cross portfolio initiatives without sidelining gender concerns, have led to successful outcomes.
Dikshya Thapa
United States
Has the Bank focused on longer term efforts to address gender ideologies along with women’s practical needs? What about initiatives to bring men on board? Are we in a situation in which the more fascinating analysis we do, the harder it is to come up with an operational ‘solutions’?
Dikshya Thapa
United States
Education, decent work out of home, political voice at local and national level, sharing family and care work, networking among women; of course, on the base of a national and regional legislation assuring at least formal equality between women and men
Giovanna Declich
Italy
Buy not accepting what society says they SHOULD be, & by following what they WANT to be. Everyone deserves to feel like they have an opportunity to REACH their goals, We all feel discouraged at SOME point, but we need to pick ourselves up, to empower one another, to keep trying, to never give up!
Liz Henderson
United States
Is women empowerment not discrimination by gender?
ngirazi stanley
Zimbabwe
Education makes us powerful. Formation makes us free. By formation I mean education + values + power of will and resilence. Only with all those elements we can be free and chose the way we want to live.
Carla Villena
Ecuador
Through realization of ones potential and capacity, which enables one to see opportunities they could not see before.Where opportunities are present,, freedom and power will also be present.
Jane Gitahi
Kenya
Proper education, awareness, but also raising families with unity and love with strong role models are key s for powerful and equal opportunities for men and women
Madeleine Jean-Jacques
France
Not every opportunity can change mindset. Society should be generous towards failure. Need some tolerance I hope.
sejin an
Korea, Rep.
Gender equality is the answer but this will only work if men are empower enough to accommodate and understand the empowered woman.
faith ochieng
Kenya
what is a good way to empower women without interfering with cultural norms?
David
Sudan
How can women be given opportunity to speakout their mind especially where men are in power.
Ashemeje
Nigeria
All men came into this life through a woman's body. Will men allow women to show them the way out of this mess that the patriarchal culture got us into, with an entirely new set of organic values?
Pam J
United States
In the western world we have opportunities enough, freedom, but we d'not use it to share the earth. Things work only when there is an aim and collective movement, which aim comes up out of your study?
Anne
Netherlands
In the western world we have opportunities enough, freedom, but we d'not use it to share the earth. Things work only when there is an aim and collective movement, which aim comes up out of your study?
Anne
Netherlands
Does women empowerment require self-confidence or access to authority, do we need men to empower us and vice versa, and how important do women have to be economically dependent or stable to be empowered?
Dania
Saudi Arabia
What machanism are being put in place to make sure that resources and skills meant to assist in the empowerment of womem are not mostly benefiting those who are already empowered?
Aulix
Malawi
Women remain their own worst enemies in my country?How can we change this mentality? All the empowerment efforts doesn't seem to work
Hala Bugaighis
Libya
Give them equal opportunities for both men and women to blossom. Women in India both in urban and rural regions require a special push to rise. They should be allowed to lead.
Vikram Gulati
India
The way in which you can measure the status of women in a society is the number of female teachers.
Peter Ole Kvint
Denmark
Girls like the adult motherly role as a teacher, but simultaneous many women are shy and have trouble talking to an audience. So women are not teachers without overcome themselves and get a personality change.
Peter Ole Kvint
Denmark
is not only education that empower women, it is firstly the right education, a equal education, a free education, as long as our systems are dominated by male doctrines women empowerment will be a blur
Rosario
Mexico
Hello David, I am one of the authors of the book. I'd say that giving women a wide array of opportunities for choice, drives empowerment without interfering with the norms that they adhere to.
Angelica Thumala
United States
Acknowledge our rights and make them real!
Huyen Do
Vietnam
A representative of Thailand at the CSW yesterday noted they have tried to address gender discrimination through education policies over many years but "education has not changed the problem." How are we reflecting on the effectiveness of existing policies?
Veronica Piatkov
United States
why cant we empower men to understand the empowered women?
faith ochieng
Kenya
How can women overcome the negative effects associated with climate change in developing countries?
Emily
United States