Gender parity cannot be achieved by putting the onus of it on one gender; joint efforts by everyone are needed to create a safe, equitable and nurturing working climate for all. Our female colleagues across levels and regions came together to exchange personal experiences and give inputs for solutions to some of the issues, on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021.

1. Newsletter
Happenings
In-house version 12 March 2021, No.1897
International Women’s Day
Collective effort, irrespective of gender, need of the day
for better, safer workplaces for women
Gender parity cannot be achieved by putting the onus
of it on one gender; joint efforts by everyone are
needed to create a safe, equitable and nurturing working
climate for all. Our female colleagues across levels and
regions came together to exchange personal experiences
and give inputs for solutions to some of the issues, on
the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021.
In contrast to last year’s IWD celebrations at ICRISAT
headquarters, this year it was a completely virtual
event, for obvious reasons. However, there was no
dearth of insights from women employees on the key
areas of concern for every woman in the organization,
and on how to deal with them.
Dr Jacqueline Hughes, Director General, began with a
call for greater equity and fewer biases (conscious and
unconscious) in the organization. "Even on farmers’
fields," she said, “If we can empower the women
farmers, we can hope to narrow the existing yield gap
between men and women farmers.”
In a panel discussion on “From Challenge Comes Change
and Opportunities”, women delved into the good and
bad experiences during their career.
Dr Caroline Hambloch, Value Chain Specialist,
Zimbabwe, underscored the issue of abuse at the
workplace, asking that all women learn how to
recognize even subtle forms of abuse and know how to
get support to deal with it. She advocated speaking up
against all forms of abuse, not just for oneself, but for
others also.
Dr Jummai Yila, Gender Research Scientist, Mali, said
that women often hesitated from asking for ‘privileges’
that men did not hesitate to ask for, as they were not
sure if it was right under specific cultural context.
A screenshot of the panel discussion on the occasion.
Image: Rajani K, ICRISAT