In the early 1990s, the United Nations and the World Bank began to argue that the empowerment of women "may well be the highest−return investment available in the developing world." Because developing states are prone to rigid social hierarchies, women must contend with positions of inferiority and ineffectual powerlessness. With this in mind, it is supposed that nations with history of women in political power correlate with higher levels of gender equality, but this is an obvious generalization. In the context of South Asia, women have held the premier office of prime minister in four countries: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. However, all of these countries still lag far behind in the World Economic Forum Annual Index Report on Gender Inequality. This raises the point that change in society requires bottom−up strategies of development.
Before being the world's first elected woman prime minister on July 20, 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaik was widow of the assassinated Sri Lankan prime minster. Similarly, Indira Gandhi, one of the more infamous political figures of India, was daughter to India's first statesman, Jawaharlal Nehru. Rather than promoting gender equality throughout the developing nation of India, Gandhi has claimed her role as a woman to be arbitrary, saying "I am not a woman prime minister, I am only a prime minister." Ultimately, Indira Gandhi devastated her career and legacy in her unrighteous obsession for unitary power. The same goes for Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, a politician by her father's dynasty. Bhutto and Gandhi only operated upon the narrow political lens of their predecessors from within family political parties, and their ease into power left them weak, vulnerable to defeat. Ultimately both Bhutto and Gandhi were assassinated, which only reinforced the dismal tone for women and their constant defeat.
If political power is achieved only through corrupt means, the nation and its people receive nothing in return. The rocky political history of South Asia has been shaped by a constant state of paranoia and political games. Politicians in South Asia are notorious for their petty engagements and hollow campaign promises. For in the countries mentioned, the women amounted to such powerful positions only by way of cronyism and corruption. The intrinsic dynasty effect, bloodline of power in South Asian politics sets the political priorities. Thus, most South Asian politicians lose the ability to engage in credible policy reforms, and this is why civil society retains such chaos and disorder. The phenomenon impedes adequate progress of society and in this case closes the windows of opportunity for women.
Amid the cultural complexity of South Asia, the glass ceiling for women is relative to each individual and the mentality of her community. For instance, a burgeoning middle class in India opens up entrepreneurial opportunity in single business markets to women, but poverty crossed with rigid tradition prevents such access for most South Asian women. Until politicians reach a point of investing in honest public utility, localized mechanisms for the empowerment of women work best amid the economic and cultural differences throughout South Asia. For as always, it is one thing to recognize the need for empowerment of women, but it is something else to act upon it. As such, the capacity for federal politicians to make any overarching change in the empowerment of women is lost.
By strengthening local political participation and fair job opportunity, the pledge to empower women uncovers the "double dividend." Active roles of women in communities yield strong advantages for developing societies. UNICEF research points out two assets: economic productivity and reduction of infant mortality. Promise comes in incremental gain and derives from instances of patient investment like the micro−credit loans of the Bangladeshi Grameen Bank and the girls' education projects of the SAARC in small communities of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. In order to conduct such projects, enthusiasm must be organic and can be stimulated by the determination of individual women, excitement from the whole community and willingness of the researchers. The central governments tend to have only shortsighted goals and opinions that subvert the importance of empowering women and attach a stigma to the role of women. As progress is made, government must respond accordingly. Perhaps the legacy of prime ministers as women can be saved throughout the non−Western world.
In Nicholas Kristof's book "Half the Sky" (2009), he writes about a song from a woman, Meena, whom he met in India:
"India will not be free/ Until its women are free/ What about the girls in this country?/ If girls are insulted and abused and enslaved in this country/ Put your hand on your heart and ask/ Is this country truly independent?"
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Julia Evans is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. She is a student in this year's EPIIC colloquium.
