(New York, 13 March 2019) – «Women’s alliance with innovation is the key to achieving equality in business and society in the 21st century», said FEDEPE President Ana Bujaldón in the round table «The great global economic challenge: strategies to integrate female talent in the 4.0 revolution», within the framework of the 63rd edition of the CSW (UN Commission on the Status of Women). The event was held at the Cervantes Institute in New York.
Bujaldón highlighted the international dimension of FEDEPE in the fourth edition of the side events, which have been held in New York, taking advantage of the call of the UN CSW, and in which thousands of people from all over the world participate.
In her speech, she alluded to the mobilizations of last March 8, International Women’s Day, assuring that «Spanish women have once again become an example of unity and struggle on a world level».
She encouraged attendees to participate in the platform «Women who leave their Mark», launched by the Federation to highlight the talent and leadership of women.
Incorporating women into the new company
In the opinion of Estrella Jaramillo, co-founder of B-wom, «to achieve this integration we must have an impact on education, promoting diversity».
For his part, Nick Leiber, journalist for «Don´t interrupt me, please» said that to solve the problem, «the first step is to recognize that the problem exists. There is a need to change the traditional culture and favor the participation of women in the new company”.
Bibiana Aído, representative of UN Women in Ecuador, drew attention to the gap that exists in the field of education, especially in higher education, assuring that «cultural change must begin there”.
Francisca García Vizcaíno, Ilunion’s director of internal business development, pointed out that «barriers must be eliminated so that women with disabilities can fully incorporate themselves into the labor market”.
The president of FEDEPE, Ana Bujaldón stressed that «from the age of 7, stereotypes are internalized, so it is necessary to influence education in equality, and change textbooks to promote access to women to leadership positions”.
María Luisa Pineda, co-founder and CEO of Envisagenics, said that there is a lot of female talent and «a lot of women to hire» but that many entrepreneurs «don’t know where to look».
Maternity and female talent
Maternity was also raised as one of the barriers to be broken down, in order to guarantee women’s access to companies, which are immersed in the fourth industrial revolution.
For Estrella Jaramillo, the role of men is fundamental: «they must opt for paternity leave to inculcate this aspect in all companies and help retain women who leave after maternity». He also called for sorority and bet on increasing budget allocations for paternity leave.
María Luisa Pineda highlighted the difficulties she encountered as a mother: «Being an autonomous woman and having a child is very difficult. I could only enjoy a week off”.
García Vizcaíno stated that «the digital transformation must be approached as an opportunity, fulfilling criteria of accessibility to technology, so as not to discriminate against any group”.
Aído raised the need to develop «public guarantees to ensure the return of women to the positions they held in their companies before maternity”.
Innovate together, act together
Ana Bujaldón insisted on the slogan chosen by UN Women this year to celebrate March 8: «Women’s alliance with innovation is the key to achieving equality in business and society in the 21st century”. She ended by encouraging those present to «innovate together, act together, for an equal future».
63CWS UN Women
The 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women is being held from 11 to 22 March at the United Nations headquarters in New York. This year’s debate focuses on women’s empowerment, social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality.
The CSW brings together representatives of Member States, United Nations entities and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for the annual session of the Commission.
About FEDEPE
The Spanish Federation of Women Executives, Professionals and Businesswomen, (FEDEPE) is a non-profit making Federation of Associations, whose origins date back to 1987, which brings together women entrepreneurs, managers and professionals from all business sectors and the Public Administration.