By Olivia Oudinot
“What walks with four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening is no longer just “man,” even generically. For we need both arms to be strong if we are to crawl; we need both legs to be of equal length and strength if we are to walk and to run. And in old age we all need the additional support of society, whether we are men or women.”
Equality for Women = Prosperity for All, written by Augusto López-Claros and Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, is an underrated gem. Goodreads shows it’s been read by 28 people – compare that to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, which has been read by 402,399 people (Goodreads has about 90 million members).
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My aim is to spread this powerful treatise throughout the D.C. community – and hopefully beyond.
I can’t imagine this book was easy to write. It discusses at length deep issues around the freedom and rights of women – looking at the different forms of violence towards women, tackling the question of culture, addressing how women are perceived when they do work in different countries, and pinpointing the costs of inequality.
Presented with powerful statistics and studies, this non-fiction collaboration provides a powerful narrative about the importance of the equality of women in relation to the economic prosperity of countries. All in all, as the book states, it does not make any financial (and of course ethical) sense to prevent women from growing and contributing to a country’s workforce. It is completely detrimental to everyone – whether man or woman, teenager or child, politician or farmer – when a woman’s rights are oppressed by society.
One connection that is not discussed at length in the book, however, is the relationship between gender equality and climate change. Gender equality is a powerful driver towards social justice, growth, and achieving sustainable development, according to many organizations worldwide such as the United Nations. “Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world,” as stated in Sustainable Development Goal Number 5.
One of the ways to successfully combat the impacts of climate change and to respond to our current ‘climate emergency’ is to pursue social innovation. As we’ve known, we can’t continue “business as usual.” Organizations need to collaborate in creative ways to invent different business models. One key component of successful social innovation is collective impact, which brings together various stakeholders from the private sector, government, and nonprofits to obtain different perspectives.
However, if there is no gender equality in those organizations, at the highest levels, then how are women supposed to achieve effective solutions if they are not part of the conversation? To ignore the perspective of women is to lose out on opportunities for valuable and insightful contributions. With the urgency our Earth is facing, this is not something to carelessly overlook.
Overall, I encourage everyone to read Equality for Women = Prosperity for All. It will help you understand more about the issues that women face around the world, and what can be done in the pursuit to eradicate gender inequality.
Olivia Oudinot is a French-American writer and Social Innovation Program Developer. Her research and consulting services focus on sustainability, climate change, women and leadership and social innovation. She holds a Master of Science in Sustainability and Social Innovation from HEC Paris, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Management from Concordia University.
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