5 key stages of women empowerment

when we think about the word power

our mind automatically shifts to think

about the people

in certain roles as authoritarian

figures

leaders influences right

now think about the things that have in

common

a their voices are heard b

they have the confidence in their

abilities and

c they have the secret ingredient that

sets them apart from

everyone out there curious to know what

that secret ingredient is

well i’ll just peel the beans that

secret ingredient is empowerment

people in positions of power are

empowered

and that is how they make things happen

only a standalone position of power is

never enough to make an impact or leave

a dent in this world

now at some point to the other you must

have come across the phase women

empowerment

maybe you have come across writings over

big banners

on social media or even across tv

channels

so we have a fair idea that this is a

topic which needs attention

but have you ever thought about how

exactly a woman is empowered

if not then think carefully

you will realize that it all boils down

to the core

of our existence let me tell you how

there are moments in your life when you

question yourself

that why am i here or what have i done

to be standing here in this place

and in those moments i find myself going

back to the beginning

back to my roots the following five

different phases of

my personal life contributed as the

stepping stones

in my journey of empowerment

starting with phase number one a woman’s

sense of self-worth

my mother was at the tender age of 17

when she got married

and 20 when she had her first child

growing up i’ve seen her compassionate

nature her positive aura

and the unintended ambitions she sought

for

but never got to turn it into a reality

you may ask why because

she got entangled in fulfilling the

various responsibilities

as a mother as a wife a daughter

a sister and what not that she never got

the chance to continue her education

and i want to emphasize on this i don’t

think a lot of people understand that

but perceiving education might seem

normal but where i come from

bangladesh and a lot of developing

nations around the world

more often than not it is an exception

it is actually a privilege to go to

school is a privilege

education is a privilege so they find a

better

so-called option and get girls married

which they think of as easing of the

burdens from their shoulder

now admiring earlier friend my mother

from realizing the true sense of her

self-worth

because her life revolved around taking

care of her family only

as a result she was financially

dependent

and this was the trigger number one for

me

it is true that even before our complex

cognitive system develops in humans

our interactions with our primary

caregivers which is mostly our mothers

expose us to a paradigm of feelings and

influence the way

we see ourselves later as adults

and as a child as free-spirited as i am

i’ve always

liked my depend uh independency it is

only in the latter years when i realized

the importance of a woman’s sense of

self-worth

that shapes a woman and also a mankind

the destiny of a mankind

phase number two determining your

choices

as a high school student i had my share

of highs and lows

and the lows went really really low when

i did horrible in one of my exams

i tried explaining it to my parents but

i just could not

those of you know know that asian

households are

never in the mood to listen to your

mistakes

and failures to be precise only when you

have good news to tell or achievements

to share

they’re there to listen and very proudly

and it was the same in my case

now i had two choices either to sit

there in misery and dwell in sadness

or be proactive and get out of the

situation

guess what i chose being proactive

i started tutoring students and when i

could save enough to pay for my

examination fee

i retook the exam

as easy as it might sound but it is not

easy for a lot of girls out there

simply because they have been raised in

such a protective and controlled

environment

that they often forget that it’s

essential for them to be out there

determining their choices because few

years down the line

you will have to make your own life

decisions and trust me

there’s no way out from there similarly

my decision to come to thailand almost

three years back was not easy

people around me were concerned about my

exposure to freedom

after all can a girl handle her freedom

carefully and responsibly enough and

such is the notion of the society where

i come from

but i knew it was the time to follow my

dreams

that i have dreamt for years come what

made

i have determined my choice and i

believe

so can the many other women in hesitance

a year back from now my life moved

fast-paced

and i felt an urgent need to pause for a

moment

if i had to describe my life at that

point then it would definitely

be chaotic i needed to reflect back on

my life so that i could prepare well

for the future and when i paused i

realized

i didn’t do any such thing that defined

me as the person i am

we live in a generation where get access

to everything at our fingertips

yet we lack awareness and become

neglectful to our inner colleagues

as a result we slowly get detached from

this spiritual awakening that

acts as the binding factor and bringing

us closer to our real selves

our truest selves and this awakening was

brought to me by we do

a social enterprise that envisions a

world where half of all leaders are

women

the two months of long intensive

leadership and developing program

undoubtedly widened my horizons and

brought me closer to my purpose

my journey as a rising star equivalent

to a female potential leader of the

future

have gave me a sense of direction

and urged me to be confident in my

abilities

and reflecting upon myself has been my

third stepping stone

in achieving empowerment

now phase number four access to

opportunities and resources

a fisherman without a fishing bait is

incapable of fishing

likewise which naturally strips him off

from his identity

because simply because he cannot put his

skill into implementation

likewise when a woman is deprived of

opportunities and resources

they become just another person

incapable

of unlocking their truest potential

when women are given the right tools to

succeed

they become limitless they shatter the

glass ceilings and go beyond their

margin

to seek for constant appraisal

and i came to realize this when i

when i when i came across every position

or place where i wanted to be a part of

required prior experiences

which i didn’t have at that time because

i was still a full-time student

despite that i kept searching for an

opportunity that will align with my

interest

and luckily i ended up interning at a

non-profit organization called rising

youth foundation

which mainly focuses on youth

mobilization

and sustainable development goals being

part of the organization

have i have learned the deeper and

meaningful aspects of the societal

impacts that i wouldn’t have learned

otherwise

and finally phase number five

your ability to influence if i’m

standing here today

is because i have been told by my

mentors that you miss

100 of the shots you don’t take

so don’t shy away from the spotlight the

ability to positively influence

through conscious thinking and effective

action plans takes you one step ahead

into reforming the world we live in

i may not have achieved the biggest of

things in life as of yet

but my journey our journey of stepping a

stone

starts with identifying these five key

stages of women empowerment

and making them an integral component of

our lifestyle

this is the end of my talk thank you for

listening