Women Around the World: Year in Review

So, another year is done. How did 2017 shape up for women and girls around the globe? Here is a selection of news:

Council on Foreign Relations:

• Record-breaking Women's March on January 21, 2017
• Global #MeToo campaign
• Legal advances in the Middle East
• U.S. Women, Peace, and Security Act is enacted
• U.S. slashes funding for global women’s health
• Legal reform on child marriage
• Gains in women's political leadership
• Low participation in peace talks
• Global migration crisis grows
• Female fighters combat terrorism

Women Leadership in the Worldwide Community:

• Almost four in ten businesses have no women in senior management positions in G7 countries
• The proportion of senior business roles held by women globally stands at only 24%
• There is an increase in the percentage of firms that have no places for women in senior management
• In G7 countries only 22% of companies have women as part of their senior staff
• 39% of companies have no women in senior roles whatsoever in G7 countries
• In Japan, with its powerhouse economy, only 7 percent of companies have women in senior roles
• Germany, another country with a strong economy, has only a 15% rate of countries with women in senior roles

News Deeply:

• women's march
• U.S. cuts funding to UNFPA
• Canada announces international assistance policy
• Family Planning receives funding boost
• advancements in women's rights globally
• Global #metoo campaign
• widening of the Global Gender Gap

The Lilly:

• the year in Movies

Maria Solkis

From CNW Group:

KIA Canada today announced that Maria Soklis has been named Chief Operating Officer and Vice - President. Theannouncement was made by Mr. Jay Chung, President and C.E.O. of KIA Canada. Ms. Soklis is the first female to ascend to the position of COO and Vice-President within the KIA Motors' International Organization. "Maria Soklisbrings outstanding leadership skills, sound business judgement and integrityto the COO position which will enable her to lead KIA Canada to new heights,"said Jay Chung.

"Through her leadership and guidance KIA Canada hasexperienced record sales growth and she has been instrumental to the ongoingoverall improvement in dealer satisfaction which was reflected in KCIreceiving the 2007 CADA Award for Most Improved Franchise. During her tenureat KIA Canada, Ms. Soklis has led KCI to a 26.9 per cent increase in salesthrough to 2008 and a 6.2 percent increase in sales for the first quarter of2009. This was a significant achievement in a market that posted an overallindustry decline of 21.8 per cent last quarter. Maria accepted the Global Subsidiary of the Year Award on behalf of KIA Canada in 2008. This award isgiven in recognition of the highest professionalism and best overall businessperformance among KIA Motors' entire sales subsidiaries world wide."

Arkansas Business' 25 Women Leaders

From Arkansas Business:
"By any standard, the CEO of Arkansas Business Publishing Group, Olivia Myers Farrell, should be on the following list, but she graciously removed herself to make room for one more notable woman business leader from the past 25 years."

Read the article and discover a list of twenty-five women who have made an impact in the business world over the last twenty-five years.

Pink equals Women Only

From Middle East Online, a quirky story of a business built upon discrimination:
"A taxi firm in Lebanon has unveiled a new concept geared toward women, complete with a fleet of pink cars and pink-attired female drivers ready to keep the sexes apart.

"Initially, I thought I would have a rough time finding female taxi drivers given that in Lebanon this is a man's job," said Nawal Yaghi Fakhri, owner of "Taxi Banat" or "Taxi for Women" which was launched on Tuesday.

"But to my surprise I got about 40 requests."

The initiative, the first of its kind in Lebanon, has won the backing of the tourism ministry keen to cater to a growing clientele of wealthy female tourists from conservative Muslim countries in the Gulf region.

"This is the second such company to open in (Arab countries of) the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates," Lina Ghanem, a spokeswoman at the tourism ministry, said.

The company's drivers will only serve women.

A women-only cab company was also launched two years ago in the Islamic republic of Iran, which frowns upon the mingling of the sexes, although men and women do sit together in shared taxis.

The idea, however, has not gone down well with some in Lebanon. "This is what you call sexual discrimination," joked Jad Fakhoury, a Lebanese businessman who attended the launch ceremony."

Women in Business in Saudi Arabia

Continuing with the "Women in Business in ....." theme

From an article in the Middle East North Africa Financial News:
"Adbul Rahman al-Zamil, a Shoura Council member and leading businessman, has called for the establishment of women-only industrial zones as part of efforts to create more job opportunities for Saudi women.

Speaking to Al-Madinah daily, he urged authorities to provide Saudi women industrialists with financial and logistic support. He said greater participation of women in the industrial sector would contribute to increasing society's productivity and family income. He emphasized that women should be given production areas inside cities and not in far-off places.

The Shoura Council is currently studying an industrial strategy presented by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Al-Zamil said, adding that the consultative body would pass it shortly."

Women in Business in America

Hard on the heels (no pun intended) of my posts on "Women in Business in the Middle East" and "Women in Business in Asia" comes this fascinating report from America.

According to a survey done by a group called catalyst, of Fortune 500 Companies in America, the key to a successful business lies in the employment of women.

According to an article published two months ago in the Financial Post:
"On average, companies with the highest representation of women in corporate-officer positions financially outperformed those with the lowest representation. In fact, return on equity was 35.1% higher. Total return to shareholders was 34% higher.

The numbers jumped for women serving as directors on Fortune 500 boards. On average, return on equity was 53% higher for those boards with a high representation of women than those with the least women; return on sales was 42% higher; and return on invested capital was 66% higher.

According to the most recent data from Catalyst, at the corporate-officer level in Canada, women held 15.1% of the top jobs in Canada's FP 500 companies and 12% of board seats.

This January, the third-annual Rosenzweig Report on women at the top levels of Corporate Canada found that 31 women now hold top-officer jobs in Canada's 100 largest publicly traded companies; down from 37 last year."

It's great to see women taking on roles in business that not too many years ago, were seen solely as the domain of their male counterparts.

Still more statistics - worldwide - are needed.

Female Firsts

A couple of "firsts" for women ....

From IOL News:
KZN woman goes for top UN job

"Durban-born Navanethem "Navi" Pillay is due to be appointed the next chief of human rights for the United Nations.

Pillay, who was the first black woman to be appointed a judge in South Africa, is the daughter of a bus driver whose successes include being president of the UN international criminal tribunal for Rwanda for eight years. The high commissioner's job is one of the most politically controversial in the United Nations.

Pillay will succeed the outspoken Louise Arbour, diplomats said yesterday.

Pillay is now a judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. As a lawyer in South Africa, she defended anti-apartheid activists and championed the rights of Nelson Mandela and other struggle leaders.

Pillay's appointment would be subject to approval by the UN General Assembly. "


And over in the US ...
From The Examiner:
Sunoco names Elsenhans 1st female CEO, president

"Sunoco Inc. on Wednesday named former Royal Dutch Shell PLC veteran Lynn Laverty Elsenhans as its first female chief executive and president effective Aug. 8.

Elsenhans, 52, will replace John G. Drosdick, who is retiring ahead of his 65th birthday next month. He has led the Philadelphia refiner for the past eight years and will remain non-executive chairman through the end of the year.

Elsenhans joins the company from Shell's Shell Downstream Inc., where she has been executive vice president of global manufacturing since 2005. From 2003 to 2005, she was president of Shell Oil Co. and CEO of Shell Oil Products US."

Women in Business in Asia

Further to my recent article "Women in Business in the Middle East":

From The Star Online:
"Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said that as of June this year, women made up 21% (2,873) of the total exporters registered with Matrade and there was a huge potential for them to grow in this area.

She also said that in small and medium-scale enterprises, only five per cent of financing totalling RM94mil went to SMEs owned by women. Dr Ng said that at decision-making level at the work place, 20% were made up of women, adding that the number was moving up."


This certainly is encouraging - and I am still interested in statistics from other countries as well.

Women in Business in the Middle East

Here's a "good news" story:

According to a survey by the World Bank, 13percent of companies in the Middle east are owned by women.

From a report in Gulf News:
"Pointing to the findings of a recent Bank report, [Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank] said, "While only 13 per cent of firms or companies in the Middle East are owned by women, there is no significant difference in terms of size, age, sector, exports, and foreign direct investment to those firms owned by men."

Representatives from both the public and private sector discussed the means to optimise the contribution of Arab women in the development of the region during the first US-based conference of the Arab International Women's Forum (AIWF), hosted by the World Bank Middle East North Africa in the US capital Washington DC recently.

Women entrepreneurs from the Middle East also gathered during the two-day conference to hear ministers including Dr Sharifa Khalfan Al Yahyai, Minister of Social Development in Oman, Hala Bseisu Lattouf, Minister of Social Development in Jordan, and Dr Huda Ali Al Ban, Minister of Human Rights in Yemen, talk about the gains women have made in the region."


I would be very interested in the World Bank statistics for companies owned by women in other areas around the globe.


Edit: I did find a link on Doing Business Blog - Women in Business category - which might prove good reading.

News On Women

I came across an excellent blog: "News On Women" - Simply, it highlights the achievements of women technology, the arts, science and especially business.

"NewsonWomen celebrates these women and their hard work. NewsonWomen wants you all to know the career paths of these women as well as what companies are promoting women and the industries where women are succeeding. NewsonWomen reports the news about women achievers every day. The news posted includes promotions, board appointments, honors, awards, job opportunities, and conference information. We all will benefit by sharing information. Sharing is key to success in this new economy."

So, be sure and stop by.