Barriers to Young Women's Full Participation in Decision-Making – Recap

In preparation for the Commission on the Status of Women, we released five recommendations that world leaders must address to include young women and their full participation in decision-making spaces. The recommendations were (1) Avoiding the trap of tokenism; (2) Investing in mentorship and coaching; (3) Acknowledging imposter syndrome; (4) Amplify young women’s voices, and lastly (5) Measure progress. We wanted to explore these recommendations in depth and held a panel on March 12th to hear from young women who already are doing this work. 

How can we avoid the trap of tokenism?

As we know, Diversity without meaningful inclusion is tokenism. The real opportunity lies in working with young women and then giving them the trust, space, and power to lead.

Saeeda, Co-Chair of the NGO CSW, shared how her work at the NGO CSW works towards meaningful engagement. She notes that historical spaces like the UN have not been powerful with meaningful youth engagement. Once we identify who holds power and why they have that power, only then we can start to redistribute it—even if it means moving aside to create the space for young women. Her work with the NGO CSW does exactly that, as a youth committee, their leadership is led by a coalition of diverse global youth. 

What about mentorship?

Sexism, racism and harassment have unfortunately become the norm for young women entering decision-making spaces. Providing *visible women role models* is one way to show that young women belong—thus investing in mentorship and coaching is key. 

Bernadita, G(irls)20 Argentina 2020 Delegate explains how sponsorship changed her life. She talked about how she has been fortunate to meet people who have been willing to help her but notes that at times we need to be both a mentor and mentee. “We owe the next generation that we give then the shortcut that we wished we had. We have the obligation to BE who we wish we had”. We aren’t waiting for one seat; we’re fighting for half the table.

Wadi, G(irls)20 Delegate from NEPAD, works to support young women through mentorship with her foundation, the Wadi Ben Hirki Foundation. Based in Nigeria, Wadi uses mentorship to change the narrative to show that young women can have the best of both worlds—that they can be empowered, make community change AND have a family. Through her program called SHEROES, she teaches young women to be the best version of themselves and that when they are empowered, gender-based violence will reduce. 

How do we go about navigating imposter syndrome?

Investing in coaching and mentorship is deeply tied with imposter syndrome. The experience of imposter syndrome is especially prominent among backgrounds that have experienced systemic marginalization and oppression—who have been purposely designed out of these spaces. 

Rania, an Inclusive Program Designer, addresses mitigating imposter syndrome through her senior leadership roles. When she had the experience of managing a team, she handpicked people who didn’t have all the skills purposefully. “Just because you haven’t been called a leader, it doesn’t mean that you’re not one. Just because you haven’t been called a decision-maker, it doesn’t mean you don’t make decisions”. She explains that as a manager, she makes space for other people’s anxieties especially with recent lockdowns, and how we have brought work into our home. It falls more on the manager to manage imposter syndrome than the employee. At the end of the day, we have to give people the space to learn and lead, so that they can actually lead. 

How do we amplify young women’s voices?

 Wadi adds that no policy should be decided without the direct representation of people who the policy affects. Meaningful representation and participation of those affected will tell you their realities and what their needs are. It shouldn’t be assumed as the proper and most appropriate solution comes from the community. 

We are so thankful that Saeeda, Bernadita, Wadi and Rania were able to take time out of their busy schedules and speak to us. The panel was an overall success, and if you missed it, check out the recording here!