A global gathering of women

Perhaps it was all that estrogen that got me really high. In an exotic place like Istanbul, Turkey, almost a thousand women came together. They have been doing this for 21 years — women leaders, business shakers and movers from all over the world come together to widen their individual networks, learn new things to further support the cause of woman’s empowerment in the world.

I was fortunate to have attended this year’s gathering in Istanbul historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, seat of the great Ottoman empire. It was just the right touristic trip, wonderful weather and experience that we tucked under our belts before the Global Summit began. We did first give our due to culture and history as tourists, picture-taking galore at the Ayasofya (Hagia Sofia, the mosaic-filled Church of the Holy Wisdom, the magnificent Byzantine architecture where both Christian and Moslem faiths have knelt in supplication to a shared God of different names). We visited Sultanahmet of the Blue Mosque, called blue due to all the blue tiles that adorn its surface. We gaped in awe at the worksmanship and artistry of Ottoman treasures at the Topkapi Palace. We walked amidst the sights, sounds, colors and scents of the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar. We straddled Asia and Europe as we rode the ferry on the Bosphorus cold air nipping our noses. We sipped sandy Turkish coffee while nibbling on baklavas and got thumped on the head by gummy Turkish ice cream (they make a spectacle of hitting you on the head or forehead with the ice cream). We enjoyed a traditional hamam Turkish bath and got jeeped by taxi drivers and forgot the misfortune upon eating the delicious food.

Then the Summit. The Global Women’s Summit is the brainchild of Irene Natividad, a dynamic Filipina based in Washington DC who had the vision that together, women can help each other, and accelerate women’s economic progress for their empowerment. Irene, a recognized leader for women in the United States, is also co-chair of Corporate Women Directors International, which promotes the increased participation of women on corporate boards globally. More importantly, she runs her own public affairs firm, GlobeWomen, based in Washington, DC. Her achievements are inspiring, and she carries this almost superwoman energy to be able to bring all the other superwomen of the world together, every year since 1997, in different countries around the world to meet up. The Summit started off in a special way where, for the first time, a woman rang the bell at the Istanbul stock exchange. The wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia was cheered by a delegation of close to 45 women. Bangladesh had 20 people, Vietnam had around 15... and the Philippines, well… we were five; with two other Filipino-Americans who are based in the US.

What was unique in this Global Summit for Women (often described as the “Davos of Women”) is that different sectors came together: leadership and policy makers in government, business leaders of enterprises, civil society and NGOs. There were also students and microenterprises, social entrepreneurs, women who funded and those who needed funding for their groups. Women of all colors, sizes, shapes and expertise. So it wasn’t all about business really, but it was a business summit whose business is to focus on women’s advancement. Participants could choose the talks they wanted to attend, with simultaneous interpretation systems to aid translations of ideas and insights by inspiring, informative speakers. From megatrends of the world, to small microenterprise and NGO support discussions, this unique grouping of different sectors allowed for exchanges of ideas, networking across fields that produce collaborations. Breakfast roundtable networking, fair trade selling booths also allowed links to be made, through the exchange of cards, shared glasses of wine during cocktails, talk over dinner, which included laughter, smiles and a lot of hand gestures for those who could not speak English. One turned to meet a First Lady of another country, corporate leaders multinationals companies, ambassadors and ministerial level leaders, as well as servant leaders who head NGOs.

Filipinas in the Global Women’s Summit: (From left) Chit Juan, president of the Women’s Business Council; Ambassador Delia Albert, SGV senior advisor (part of the organizing committee); Maribel Ongpin of the Ongpin Foundation; and author Jeannie Javelosa, president of ECHOstore.

One inspiring thing I learned was how global women leaderships look towards “sponsorships” and “mentoring,” bringing other women up their spheres of influences. I myself mentioned that here in the Philippines, where women already hold a rightful place in governance, leadership and the corporate world, it’s still nice to know that there is a global platform where one can plug to, where insights may be shared, where inspiration can be obtained from, and answers to similar challenges are given.

During the last day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was given a special award. It was the first time that a man was being given an award in this women summit. He is also the first secretary general in the UN that actually did something very important for women’s cause. He worked to make the UN General Assembly vote to create a single UN body tasked to accelerate progress in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment. The new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — or UN Women — merged four of the world body’s agencies and offices: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW). This was also accompanied by the appointment of Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, as Undersecretary-General for UN Women.

During a previous high level UN meeting, Ban Ki-moon, in his opening remarks, had called for women and girls to be placed at the center of the global struggle to achieve the social and economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals. He said, “Until women and girls are liberated from poverty and injustice, all our goals — peace, security, sustainable development — stand in jeopardy.”

The Summit ended with a pact to undertake the effort to help eradicate cervical cancer. A Global Consortium of Women to End Cervical Cancer was created to focus on keeping women healthy. Through education and information, women and young girls are getting appropriate testing and vaccination to end cervical cancer.

One of the regrets I had from that Summit was why there were so few Filipinas there. Our women should have a chance to experience this gathering, to be more aware globally, and to speak out in the global stage. We’re making up a group of those who want to join the next Global Summit in 2012, which will be held in Greece.

(Interested? Let’s form a list.

E-mail me at mailto:jeanniejavelosa@gmail.com)