QICC WIN supported balance for better in the 2019 doha womens forum

Aurora Espina, Sr. Calibration and Certification Engineer and Qatar’s Women in Nexans Country Leader together with Anna Liza Azurin, HR Generalist as QICC WiN representatives supported “Balance for Better” in the 2019 Doha Women’s Forum last September 29, 2019.  

Being the Country Leader of WiN (Women in Nexans) for Qatar, Aurora Espina, Sr. Calibration and Certification Engineer joined by Anna Liza Azurin, HR Generalist attended the 2019 Doha Women’s Forum held last September 29, 2019 in Westin Doha Hotel and Spa. 

This year’s theme of the Forum has been pegged from the 2019 International Women’s Day theme “Balance for Better”, a call-to-action for driving gender balance across the world. Gender balance is not just an issue for women but for all. 

With the fundamental theme of the forum focusing on gender balance, it has highlighted the importance of gender balance for the betterment of Qatar’s society and community. The speakers are all prominent members of society which includes government spokespersons, dignitaries, business leaders, sports representatives, state officers as well as advocates of social causes. 

 “I felt honored to participate to such prestigious platform like Doha Women Forum last Sept. 29. The topic focuses on this year’s International Women’s day campaign theme “Balance for Better”. Several prominent speakers were invited to talk about today’s status of gender under representation and discuss about significance of closing gender gap to create a balance world. 

In reality indeed gender equality is an issue that needs to be addressed by the society. And by doing such campaign we are helping our future generation. As QICC WIN country leader, participating to such event gives me on overview of the real world outside my workplace. And in the same way, gives me an opportunity to share the gained information and influence those within my workplace to raise awareness of this issue and consequently reduce the gender under representation. 

The message I’ve learned from this forum was that women has an innate capability within them to contribute to overall progress of this world. And that women should redirect their focus on what they want to achieve, be assertive and goal-oriented and to stop limiting of what they can do. As one of the speaker from North Oil Company Dr. Haya says “women usually tries to ensure first that everything is perfect and that she knows everything about it, before she accepts the job offer”. Indeed, women should try to be more confident of her God-given talent and skills and what she can offer.  

Another thing that made a lot of impact to me that was requoted by one the speakers was according to Robert B. Zoelick, former president of the world bank: 

“Equality is not just the right thing to do. It’s smart economics. How can an economy achieve full potential if it ignores, sidelines or fails to invest in half of its population?”  

Surely, Diversity as part of Nexans corporate strategy will certainly be embedded into our culture in the coming years.” – Aurora Espina, Sr. Calibration and Certification Engineer, QICC WiN Country Leader 

“Few days back I have been reading a lot about gender equality, diversity and inclusion to prepare myself in drafting a Gender Policy. Listening to the speakers has opened my eyes to a wider perspective. Gender Equality is not exclusively for women only, it takes two to tango! Both genders deserve equal opportunities to grow.  

There is still outright and unconscious bias when it comes to women at work everywhere. Women being tasked to do “office housework” (e.g. taking minutes, organizing activities, finding supplies, etc.) which results to no career advancement, feeling of unproductiveness and deterioration of potential skills. It is not only unfair to women but a disadvantage to men. Think about a male manager who does not even know how to take down a structured minutes of the meeting, write a concise policy or even conduct a meaningful structured job interview without all the bias and closed mindset. Yes, this all boils down to gender equality. Both genders should be given equal opportunity to learn and grow. More women must be given a seat in “the table” to participate in decision making. Managers must be more open to flexible working practices by focusing on results and not confining employees in a box of rules restricting their growth.  

Gender Equality at work is the first step in this 2-fold change. The second step is Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace. 

Diversity in the workplace consists of people with different characteristics and Inclusion means removing barriers to make sure every single person in our diverse workforce have equal access to opportunities.  

With QICC already a diverse workforce where we have 18 nationalities, we would soon need to work towards inclusion- which means giving equal opportunity for everyone in terms of promoting career development and gender equal pay, combating gender-based violence at work, giving opportunities for feedback, supporting balance in family responsibilities to name a few. 

It is a big work but change takes time and so does transforming people’s mindset. We need to start by challenging first ourselves to work on our own personal “filters” and remove the bias when it comes to gender, culture, language, disability and age. Together, we can work towards a more diverse and gender inclusive behavior.” – Anna Liza Azurin, HR Generalist 

The forum has been well attended by different women professionals from all over Qatar. The program ended with all women taking part in the Pledge for Parity.