Agenda

Opening the day’s event is the award winning Nagaland Chamber Choir which celebrates the spirit and talent of women through a compilation of uplifting song some with local flavour of a matriarchal society

Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women has been working on empowering women through skill development in 23 countries and extending her online mentoring programs to a hundred countries. Her concern regarding the exodus of women from the workforce and what it takes to keep women productively engaged goes to the heart of the challenge of inclusive development.

Brings years of expertise as the head of Avon cosmetics to developing the micro-loan model for growth as the CEO of the Grameen Bank America. She has impacted the lives of thousands of women and men through self help programs and will share her insights on turning poor and marginalized families into productive members of society.

The focus of this session will be getting more women into politics and creating a conducive environment…for ex: lobbying for Parliament to pass the Women’s Reservation bill. India ranks 148 out of 193 countries in the number of women in Executive Government and Parliament, according to a recent report published by the UN. Given that the overwhelming majority of Indian women MPs have inherited power, the patriarchal political system is stacked against outsiders, particularly women. They make up just 11% in both houses -half the global average –which is lower than other South Asian countries: Nepal leading at 29% representation. The discussion will identify the major stumbling blocks for aspiring women politicians -lack of financing; security threat from goons and criminals; electoral preference for male candidates etc – and come up with innovative ways to surmount these challenges.

According to the World Bank’s research, three out of five women of prime working age in India (26-45 years) are not economically active, meaning that they are neither working on a farm or in businesses nor are they earning any wage. In fact, India ranks 139 out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index this year in women’s economic empowerment and 136 in women’s earned income. The World Bank supports one of the world’s largest self help women’s groups in India.

Apart from the well -documented gender gap, there are a number of minority communities and vulnerable individuals in India for whom life remains a daily struggle. But new technology is providing a tool to topple established norms and empower those who are victims. These heart-warming stories of social change come from three women who have faced everything from acid attacks to domestic violence and used social media online platforms to fight back.

From e-commerce to financial services, women entrepreneurs are changing the narrative in the Indian startup ecosystem slowly, but surely. They may be underrepresented in the sector, but women are building some incredible start ups and products. Two years ago, women constituted only 10% of the total number of entrepreneurs in the country. Now, women run about 14% of business organizations in India, according to the National Sample Survey Organizations

India’s sixth Miss World comes from a family of scientists but decided to follow her heart and become a model…the rest is history. Manushi Chillar, Miss World 2017, uses her celebrity to support a number of projects aimed at improving the lives of women proving that being a beauty queen is not just about sitting pretty.

With few exceptions, women remain excluded from senior management globally: in the US 15% of 1000 board directors of Fortune 500 companies are women, in India of 8,640 directors of BSE listed companies only 350 were women, mostly related to promoters. Before the 2004 ‘Quota Law’ which made it mandatory for publicly listed companies and government bodies to have at least 40% representation of both sexes on company boards, Norway had only 7% of women board members. Faced with severe penalties, the number of women on boards increased dramatically to 40% in 10 years. The impact on client satisfaction and profitability of boards with greater diversity has been documented by several studies. How did Norway, and several other countries which followed suit, achieve this?

While the Transgender Person’s Bill has failed to pass in 2016 following criticism that it failed to protect the livelihoods of the very people it was seeking to represent, India has seen some stunning examples of Trans persons who are making their mark professionally. Like Dr Mona Varonica Campbell, an international Plus Size model who was the show stopper in Lakme’s Fasahion week last year. Mona is an expert on grooming having worked at MAC and Bobby Brown and will share her life story – which includes studying at the London School of Fashion and being a PhD.

Top stand up comic Radhika Vaz regales us with the follies and foibles of India’s men-and women. And what its like to survive in a workplace where women are dropping out in record numbers – all with her tongue firmly in cheek

The daughters of some of India’s biggest industrialists are finally getting their rightful place at the table. Many are building on older business in impressive ways and introducing new ideas and new philosophies of business. The discussion would reflect the changing role of daughters in India’s big business houses, why they chose to work when they had the world as their playground, their vision for the future, what they are doing to reduce the gender gap at work for other women and the biggest obstacles they face in getting things done.

Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore is in conversation with her daughter Soha Ali Khan who’s baby daughter Inaaya was born around the same time she was busy launching her book “The Perils of Being Moderately Famous.” The session focuses on something that is at the heart of the success or failure of one's professional -personal life…finding the right balance between work and life. Is it harder to be a working mom today? What does balance really mean? Spending the same amount of time on all spheres of activity or prioritising? Are spouses more supportive of working wives today? These are just some of the ideas we want to explore.

From all women crews on naval vessels and commercial airlines to the first batch of women combat pilots in the Indian Air Force Indian women are breaking into jobs traditionally done by men. They are fire fighters, truck drivers, mountaineers and cricketing legends. They are bar tenders, security guards and heads of powerful financial institutions. There has never been a better time to challenge the status quo in India

From all women crews on naval vessels and commercial airlines to the first batch of women combat pilots in the Indian Air Force Indian women are breaking into jobs traditionally done by men. They are fire fighters, truck drivers, mountaineers and cricketing legends. They are bar tenders, security guards and heads of powerful financial institutions. There has never been a better time to challenge the status quo in India

Padmashri Ananda Shankar Jayant had a flourishing career as an acclaimed bharatnatyam dancer and was the first woman to join the South Indian Railways Transport department. Then cancer struck. She was devastated …but determined to beat it. Dancing through chemo sessions with a wig, she confronted some of the deepest truths of life, including the power of passion for a cause, a hobby, an interest that takes you beyond yourself.

While India remains the biggest economy in the region and many Indian women are breaking glass ceilings in different arenas, the status of Indian women has not kept pace with that of women in neighbouring countries. In this year's Global Gender Gap Index, India has slipped 20 places to number 104 out of 144 countries in empowerment of women. In that same Index Bangladesh is at number 47. In Nepal, women parliamentarians make up 27% of legislators compared to 11% in India which is half the global average. In Sri Lanka women have better health and literacy status despite years of civil disruption. In Afghanistan, brave women have fought the Taliban to represent their kin in Pariament. The discussion brings together women leaders from the region to delve into ways in which this bias is practiced and how it being addressed.

The informal definition of Mansplaining goes something like this: The act of explaining (something) condescendingly to a female listener, especially to explain something the listener already knows, presuming that she has an inferior understanding of it because she's a woman. Journalist and author Bee Rowlatt whose latest book “In Search of Mary: The Mother of all Journeys” is about the life of Mary Wollstonecraft the very first feminist, gives us some typical examples of uninhibited ‘Mansplaining’ and how to respond to it.

According to the International Labour Organization’s Global Wage Report 2016-17 India is one of the worst places for pay discrimination…ranging from 30% lower pay for women to 24% if you prefer Monster.com data. The highest gap is in the manufacturing and technology sectors, closely followed by FI and Pharma. A closer look reveals that the pay gap is approximately 11% at junior management levels (work experience of 5-8 years) and increases to about 13 % at middle management grades (work experience of 8-12 years). This is a big issue now with Google being sued in the US

What does a country lose when women drop out of the workforce? The impact is felt not just economically but socially and in subtle ways such as loss of creative talent. The long term impact on development is substantial. For instance, in China women contribute 40% of national GDP whereas in India the number is just 17%. Women also impact the workforce in obvious and subtle ways bringing the richness and challenges associated with diversity.

After long years of confining them to the binary of Sati Savitris or Vamps, Bollywood has slowly started moving beyond the objectification of women to reveal their inner reality. From Fire and Water to Angry Indian Goddesses and Parched with Lipstick Under My Burkha being the latest, a generation of women directors has succeeded in making films that resonate with women. Yet they continue to face formidable challenges including getting funding, attracting stars, fighting the censor board, finding distrubutors and wooing audiences in a heavily patriarchal industry. Will the latest disclosures of pay differentials and casting couch politics in Hollywood have an added impact in changing the status quo in Bollywood?

This session celebrates the indomitable courage of women who have surmounted incredible odds to reach the top of their sport. From wrestling, to squash, tennis, gymnastics, alpine skiing and boxing, Indian women are bringing home medals and holding their own against the world’s best. Each one of them have had to fight patriarchy and hone their game with little access to professional training and institutional support. Our panel discussion salutes the personal journeys of some achiever, the need for better institutional support for women’s sports at both state and national level, and what it takes to be a world class sports star today

Sonam Kalra uses music as a medium for social change, with her message of equality and acceptance. She blends different voice of faith, languages and musical styles from across the world to create one universal voice of faith and urges people to use their voice to speak out against injustice with songs like BOL. Her rendition of Hallelujah-Alllah Hoo stresses the need for many different hallelujahs and calls to God to exist in harmony whilst her uptempo Irish-Rajasthani folk inspired song, Alfat talks of finding God not within the walls of a building, but in every person's heart. Sonam Kalra's powerful voice and equally powerful theme that her music embodies, delivers a very important message, one the world needs right now.