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