WTO chief: “Many of the tensions and wars are caused by men”

Many of the current tensions and wars “have been caused by men”, stressed today the director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in a talk with the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, to commemorate Women’s Day.

“I’m not saying that women can have flaws, but it seems to me that if women were more involved in peace negotiations, there would be less ego and the tension would not be as high.”, said Ngozi, the first woman to lead the highest governing body of international trade.

The director of the WTO stressed that the pandemic has meant a setback in gender equality, as shown by studies from the World Economic Forum that estimate that at the current rate it will take 132 years to achieve parity in the world (32 years more than what estimated in 2020).

“Some 37 million people living in poverty are women and girls, there has been a setback and I think it will take us at least another decade to return to the pace we were at before”, he predicted.

Ngozi, who, as is her custom, today wore an African dress in bright colors (this time purple, a color associated with the feminist movement) also spoke of the double discrimination experienced by women on her continent, because of their sex and their color.

“Many times, when they see me come in dressed like this, some people think that I don’t have anything intelligent to say, but I like that they think so to surprise them.”, Ngozi highlighted to applause.

The Nigerian stressed that when she came to the leadership of the WTO she was surprised that the organization lacked gender policies, something that changed “also introducing elements in favor of diversity and equity”.

In the colloquium, Lagarde stressed that although much remains to be done towards equality, great progress has been made, recalling for example that in France in the mid-20th century, her mother could not open a bank account without her father’s permission.

She also highlighted the importance of more women being leaders in all spheres of power given their good skills for it, including in large economic firms.

“I think the current situation could be very different if ‘Lehman Brothers’ (brothers) had been ‘Lehman Sisters’ (sisters)”, joked the ECB president, alluding to the financial firm whose collapse became the main symbol of the 2008 financial crisis.

Source: EFE