Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
“We need to acknowledge that the world is full of gender-based differences and that it takes active, informed and well-resourced policies to eliminate existing gender-based discrimination. It will not be enough to have equal rights laid down in laws and regulations.” – Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
iKNOW Politics: Dear Ms. Wieczorek-Zeul, you have been the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development for several years, now being in your third term. As a woman in such a strategic position, especially in 2007 when Germany has been holding the EU and G8 presidencies, can you tell us how you cope with the expectations, workload and pressure that your mandate entails? Does the public expect different agenda setting from a female Minister?
What motivates me time and again are the positive results achieved by our work. A child's smile is the best possible reward and encourages me time and again. And, yes, women are expected to take more concrete and more compassionate action.
iKNOW Politics: You have recently hosted a high-level conference on Women’s Economic Empowerment. Why do you think it is important to strengthen women’s economic empowerment?
I am absolutely convinced that economic empowerment and women’s rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Why? Women possess as little as 1% of the world’s wealth, earn only 10% of the world’s income and are far from being equal to their male counterparts, who possess 99% of the world’s wealth and earn 90% of the world’s income. The discrepancy could not be much bigger. Where women are economically dependent on others, they will have limited freedom of speech, they will not be able to make their decisions independently or even to take full responsibility for themselves and their children.
It is basic human rights that are at stake. Women’s economic empowerment is not just a fad or a catch phrase: it means their being on an equal footing with their husbands as they take decisions for themselves and their families. Nor is women’s political and economic empowerment a women’s issue, it is at the very core of development. Limiting women’s economic options undermines development effectiveness, thus slows progress on poverty reduction and further perpetuates existing human rights violations. We must take action, forge new partnerships, and firmly establish women’s political and economic empowerment as an issue on the national and international development agendas and action plans! That is why I teamed up with colleagues from Denmark, Norway, the OECD DAC, the United Kingdom and the World Bank in hosting the high-level conference on women’s economic empowerment in Berlin in February 2007 and why I am so committed to my role as Champion for the World Bank Gender Action Plan. The partnerships around women’s economic empowerment have since been growing and gaining momentum. We need to use that momentum wisely.
iKNOW Politics: Do you see any political obstacles that have to be overcome to be able to empower women economically?
We need to acknowledge that the world is full of gender-based differences and that it takes active, informed and well-resourced policies to eliminate existing gender-based discrimination. It will not be enough to have equal rights laid down in laws and regulations. What is needed is women’s comprehensive access to those rights that are a matter of course for men: land titles, education, inheritance rights and the right to enter into contracts. As our chancellor rightly said when she opened the high-level conference on women’s economic empowerment in February, enforcing gender equality is not a women’s issue but a societal obligation that also requires men to change men's roles and dominance. This is not always welcome and easy – neither in our personal relationships nor in economic and political life. However, if we fail to deliver for women and girls we fail in our political mandate and obligations.
iKNOW Politics: What do you personally do to support and encourage women and girls to get involved in politics?
At an early point, I became active in my Party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, to achieve a quota system for its decision-making bodies, and together with other women I successfully established such a system. Only if women take part in decision-making will all their arguments and interests be reflected in the decisions taken. The success of the quota system is now evident: women have been able to become leading politicians, which is to the benefit of the political arena as a whole. Moreover, I am particularly interested in supporting women’s networks in Germany but also in our developing partner countries.
iKNOW Politics: What advice can you give the women leaders and candidates trying to succeed in their political career?
To think for themselves and to have the courage of their convictions!
“We need to acknowledge that the world is full of gender-based differences and that it takes active, informed and well-resourced policies to eliminate existing gender-based discrimination. It will not be enough to have equal rights laid down in laws and regulations.” – Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
iKNOW Politics: Dear Ms. Wieczorek-Zeul, you have been the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development for several years, now being in your third term. As a woman in such a strategic position, especially in 2007 when Germany has been holding the EU and G8 presidencies, can you tell us how you cope with the expectations, workload and pressure that your mandate entails? Does the public expect different agenda setting from a female Minister?
What motivates me time and again are the positive results achieved by our work. A child's smile is the best possible reward and encourages me time and again. And, yes, women are expected to take more concrete and more compassionate action.
iKNOW Politics: You have recently hosted a high-level conference on Women’s Economic Empowerment. Why do you think it is important to strengthen women’s economic empowerment?
I am absolutely convinced that economic empowerment and women’s rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Why? Women possess as little as 1% of the world’s wealth, earn only 10% of the world’s income and are far from being equal to their male counterparts, who possess 99% of the world’s wealth and earn 90% of the world’s income. The discrepancy could not be much bigger. Where women are economically dependent on others, they will have limited freedom of speech, they will not be able to make their decisions independently or even to take full responsibility for themselves and their children.
It is basic human rights that are at stake. Women’s economic empowerment is not just a fad or a catch phrase: it means their being on an equal footing with their husbands as they take decisions for themselves and their families. Nor is women’s political and economic empowerment a women’s issue, it is at the very core of development. Limiting women’s economic options undermines development effectiveness, thus slows progress on poverty reduction and further perpetuates existing human rights violations. We must take action, forge new partnerships, and firmly establish women’s political and economic empowerment as an issue on the national and international development agendas and action plans! That is why I teamed up with colleagues from Denmark, Norway, the OECD DAC, the United Kingdom and the World Bank in hosting the high-level conference on women’s economic empowerment in Berlin in February 2007 and why I am so committed to my role as Champion for the World Bank Gender Action Plan. The partnerships around women’s economic empowerment have since been growing and gaining momentum. We need to use that momentum wisely.
iKNOW Politics: Do you see any political obstacles that have to be overcome to be able to empower women economically?
We need to acknowledge that the world is full of gender-based differences and that it takes active, informed and well-resourced policies to eliminate existing gender-based discrimination. It will not be enough to have equal rights laid down in laws and regulations. What is needed is women’s comprehensive access to those rights that are a matter of course for men: land titles, education, inheritance rights and the right to enter into contracts. As our chancellor rightly said when she opened the high-level conference on women’s economic empowerment in February, enforcing gender equality is not a women’s issue but a societal obligation that also requires men to change men's roles and dominance. This is not always welcome and easy – neither in our personal relationships nor in economic and political life. However, if we fail to deliver for women and girls we fail in our political mandate and obligations.
iKNOW Politics: What do you personally do to support and encourage women and girls to get involved in politics?
At an early point, I became active in my Party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany, to achieve a quota system for its decision-making bodies, and together with other women I successfully established such a system. Only if women take part in decision-making will all their arguments and interests be reflected in the decisions taken. The success of the quota system is now evident: women have been able to become leading politicians, which is to the benefit of the political arena as a whole. Moreover, I am particularly interested in supporting women’s networks in Germany but also in our developing partner countries.
iKNOW Politics: What advice can you give the women leaders and candidates trying to succeed in their political career?
To think for themselves and to have the courage of their convictions!