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    ET Women's Forum: Cherie Blair, Nita Ambani, Meena Ganesh to discuss glass ceiling, gender diversity

    Synopsis

    If India’s women participate in the workforce as much as the men, its GDP could expand by 27%.

    ET Bureau
    MUMBAI: About a century after Tamil poet and reformer Subramania Bharati first imagined the poise and power of the modern woman in his poems, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde reminded India that its economic destiny is profoundly entwined with the fortunes of the country’s half a billion women.

    Image article boday

    Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund IMF addresses a plenary session at World Economic Forum. (Image: AP)

    More than 50 Indian and international speakers to take part in first ET Women’s Forum.

    If India’s women participate in the workforce as much as the men, its GDP could expand by 27%, Lagarde said in Davos last month. She was one of the all-women panel of co-chairs at the World Economic Forum (WEF) this year.

    A few days later, chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian unveiled the Economic Survey with a pink cover as a symbol of support for “the growing movement to end violence against women.” The Survey argued that India should prioritise gender equality as much as it is committed to moving up on the Ease of Doing Business rankings.

    Also read: ET Women's Forum - complete coverage

    The Survey gave a granular account of India’s gender challenge: the percentage of women who work declined to 24% in 2015-16 from 36% a decade ago. It also estimated “missing” women at 63 million and said that 21million were “unwanted,” reflecting the scale of the mountain that needs to be climbed.

    From Davos to Delhi, the exclamations of future hope and the sighs of current challenges of India’s half a billion women are now reverberating with fresh intent. Next month, The Economic Times will bring together more than 50 Indian and international speakers and panellists and well over 300 participants to amplify the voice of India’s rising women.

    The first Economic Times Women’s Forum will be as much a celebration of the modern woman as it will be a clarion call to ensure she gets what’s rightfully her due.

    Image article boday

    Yashodhara Raje Scindia. (Image: Agencies)

    Speakers including Cherie Blair, Annette Dixon, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Supriya Sule, Nita Ambani, Kristina Jullum Hagen, Fawzia Koofi, M Damodaran, Rajan Anandan, Vani Kola, Meena Ganesh, Shobana Kamineni, Tessy Thomas, Elisabeth Coffey, Soha Ali Khan, Alankrita Shrivastava and Supriya Devgun will showcase the rising power of half a billion.

    Several thoughtful and provocative discussions are expected to happen around gender diversity in boardrooms and parliament, enhancing women’s participation in the workforce, breaking the proverbial glass ceiling, women in sports, startups, civic society and the performing arts.

    The day-long, think-tank cum extravaganza (www.etwomensforum. com), which will be held on March 16, is an exclusive, by-invitation-only forum. The Economic Times has established the collaborative forum to create an urgent, sustainable and national culture of empowering India’s half a billion women.
    ( Originally published on Feb 07, 2018 )

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