Women in Spotlight at WEF India Summit - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Adolescent girls are India’s greatest untapped resource for future prosperity and growth.

• That was the clear message at the World Economic Forum’s Summit in India, where with PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi jumping in, a panel explained how capitalising on the promise of women is the best and easiest way for India to turbocharge its growth.

• Already, girls dominate the top ranks of the prestigious national schools exams, and the percentage of women leading top Indian companies far exceeds the share in the US and most other Western countries.

• But the spectacular gains for women are by no means complete or — especially — universal. At the WEF meeting, six panelists addressed the situation and what needs to be done.

• For those girls who never get a chance to sit the exam or become a CEO, India loses $56 billion a year in potential income. For every extra year an Indian girl stays in primary school, she can earn at least 10% more over her lifetime; an additional year in secondary school can earn her a full quarter more.

• The CEOs Chanda Kochhar of ICICI and Vinita Bali of Brittania Industries and Rahshree Sugars & Chemicals Chair Rajshree Pathy were joined by Maria Eitel, president of the Nike Foundation, and two men, Darryl Green, President of Manpower Asia Pacific, and Lord Hastings, Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity at KPMG International, for the talk.

• Eitel summarised the talk — and her excitement — emphasising India’s opportunity for girls to reshape its economy.

• “I was struck that India isn’t on the path to catch up to other superpowers, it can leapfrog if it unleashes the potential of its 100 million adolescent girls as they become women.”

• Chanda emphasised the three E’s – education, employment opportunities, and empowerment.

• Nooyi, who is the most famous woman in the Indian corporate world, even if she lives and works in the US, cheered the results, including the two male panelists’ championing of girl power. “If men can be made to feel responsible for girls’ advancement,’‘ she said, “the catalyst for change will be far greater.”

Eitel’s report in The Huffington Post

“The ultimate takeaway is this: Invest in girls today and eliminate a major structural impediment to prosperity for the next generation.” – Maria Eitel, Nike Foundation president

1. “Commit to acting on the data that applies to you.” This applies to CEOs, government officials, or activists: “Understand the positive impact of investing in girls and, just as importantly, what NOT investing in girls will cost you.”
2. “Stop using girls as infrastructure.” Build an electric grid so they need not tote firewood, a plumbing system so they won’t be forced to carry water, a childcare system to free them for economic opportunity. .
3. “Don’t assume you have girls covered in your programs, unless you specifically address them.”
4. “You don’t need to change your strategy, just include girls in everything you already do.”
5. “Enforce policies that are already in place.”
6. “Men and boys are critical to a girl’s success.”
7. “Don’t treat girls as the issue of the day.” Realising the economic potential of girls and women worldwide requires a long-term commitment.