We do not invest in victims, we invest in survivors. And in ways both big and small, the narrative of the victim shapes the way we see women. You can't count what you don't see. And we don't invest in what's invisible to us. But this is the face of resilience.
Ne zanimaju nas žrtve, već preživeli. I u velikim i u malim stvarima, na žene gledamo kroz priču o žrtvi. Nevidljivo se ne može izbrojati. Niti nas zanima ono što ne vidimo. Ali ovo je lice otpora.
Six years ago, I started writing about women entrepreneurs during and after conflict. I set out to write a compelling economic story, one that had great characters, that no one else was telling, and one that I thought mattered. And that turned out to be women.
Pre šest godina sam počela da pišem o ženama preduzetnicima za vreme i posle ratova. Namera mi je bila da napišem dobru priču o ekonomiji, sa sjajnim likovima, koju niko drugi nije pričao, za koju sam mislila da je bitna. Na kraju su to ispale žene.
I had left ABC news and a career I loved at the age of 30 for business school, a path I knew almost nothing about. None of the women I had grown up with in Maryland had graduated from college, let alone considered business school. But they had hustled to feed their kids and pay their rent. And I saw from a young age that having a decent job and earning a good living made the biggest difference for families who were struggling.
Sa 30 godina sam napustila ABC vesti, karijeru koju sam volela, da bih upisala ekonomski fakultet, o kome nisam skoro ništa znala. Ni jedna od žena sa kojima sam odrasla u Merilendu nije završila fakultet, a kamo li ekonomski. Ali su naporno radile da bi prehranile decu i platile račune. Od malh nogu sam videla da je dobar posao sa pristojnom zaradom najvažniji za porodice sa novčanim problemima.
So if you're going to talk about jobs, then you have to talk about entrepreneurs. And if you're talking about entrepreneurs in conflict and post-conflict settings, then you must talk about women, because they are the population you have left. Rwanda in the immediate aftermath of the genocide was 77 percent female. I want to introduce you to some of those entrepreneurs I've met and share with you some of what they've taught me over the years.
Ako se već priča o poslovima, mora da se priča o preduzetnicima. A ako se priča o preduzetnicima u uslovima za vreme i posle rata, mora da se priča o ženama, jer one predstavljaju preživele. Neposredno nakon genocida u Ruandi, žene su činile 77% stanovništva. Želela bih da vas upoznam sa nekim od preduzetnika koje sam srela i da vam pokažem šta sam od njih naučila.
I went to Afghanistan in 2005 to work on a Financial Times piece, and there I met Kamila, a young women who told me she had just turned down a job with the international community that would have paid her nearly $2,000 a month -- an astronomical sum in that context. And she had turned it down, she said, because she was going to start her next business, an entrepreneurship consultancy that would teach business skills to men and women all around Afghanistan. Business, she said, was critical to her country's future. Because long after this round of internationals left, business would help keep her country peaceful and secure. And she said business was even more important for women because earning an income earned respect and money was power for women.
2005. godine sam u Avganistanu pisala članak za Financial Times, i tu sam upoznala Kamilu, koja mi je rekla da je odbila posao u međunarodnoj kompaniji, sa mesečnom platom od skoro $2.000, što je za te uslove ogromna suma. Rekla je da je odbila kako bi započela svoj sledeći posao, školu za preduzetnike, gde bi muškarci i žene iz čitavog Avganistana mogli da uče o poslovanju. Rekla je da je ekonomija ključna za budućnost zemlje. Dugo nakon odlaska internacionalnih kompanija, jaka ekonomija bi osigurala mir i bezbednost. Rekla je da je za žene ekonomija još važnija, jer dobra zarada donosi poštovanje, a za žene je novac moć.
So I was amazed. I mean here was a girl who had never lived in peace time who somehow had come to sound like a candidate from "The Apprentice." (Laughter) So I asked her, "How in the world do you know this much about business? Why are you so passionate?" She said, "Oh Gayle, this is actually my third business. My first business was a dressmaking business I started under the Taliban. And that was actually an excellent business, because we provided jobs for women all around our neighborhood. And that's really how I became an entrepreneur."
Zapanjila sam se. Ta devojka nije ni živela u vreme mira, ali je uspela da zvuči kao kandidat iz ,,Šegrta''. (Smeh) Pitala sam je odakle zna toliko o poslovanju. Odakle takva strast? Odgovorila je da joj je to već treći posao. Prvi je započela za vreme vlasti Talibana, i bavio se šivenjem. I bio je veoma uspešan, jer je zapošljavao žene iz čitavog komšiluka. Tako je postala preduzetnik.
Think about this: Here were girls who braved danger to become breadwinners during years in which they couldn't even be on their streets. And at a time of economic collapse when people sold baby dolls and shoe laces and windows and doors just to survive, these girls made the difference between survival and starvation for so many. I couldn't leave the story, and I couldn't leave the topic either, because everywhere I went I met more of these women who no one seemed to know about, or even wish to.
Razmislite o tome: to su devojke koje su uprkos opasnosti zarađivale za hleb, iako nisu smele ni da izađu na ulicu. Za vreme ekonomske krize, dok su ljudi prodavali lutke, pertle, vrata i prozore kako bi preživeli, te devojke su za mnoge stvarale razliku između gladi i života. Nisam mogla da se okanem te priče, jer gde god da odem, sretala bih još takvih žena za koje niko ne zna, niti želi da zna.
I went on to Bosnia, and early on in my interviews I met with an IMF official who said, "You know, Gayle, I don't think we actually have women in business in Bosnia, but there is a lady selling cheese nearby on the side of the road. So maybe you could interview her." So I went out reporting and within a day I met Narcisa Kavazovic who at that point was opening a new factory on the war's former front lines in Sarajevo. She had started her business squatting in an abandoned garage, sewing sheets and pillow cases she would take to markets all around the city so that she could support the 12 or 13 family members who were counting on her for survival. By the time we met, she had 20 employees, most of them women, who were sending their boys and their girls to school. And she was just the start. I met women running essential oils businesses, wineries and even the country's largest advertising agency.
Zatim sam otišla u Bosnu, i pri početku istraživanja sam srela zvaničnika MMF-a koji je rekao da izgleda da u bosanskoj ekonomiji nema žena, ali u blizini ima žena koja prodaje sir pored puta. Možda mogu sa njom da razgovaram. Nastavila sam da izveštavam i već sledećeg dana sam upoznala Narcisu Kavazović, koja je baš tada otvarala fabriku na bivšem sarajevskom frontu. Posao je započela zauzevši napuštenu garažu; šila je čaršave i jastučnice, pa ih prodavala na pijacama širom grada kako bi izdržavala 12 ili 13 članova porodice koji su od nje zavisili. Kad smo se srele, imala je 20 zaposlenih, uglavnom žena, čija su deca tek kretala u školu. A to je samo početak. Srela sam žene koje su vodile fabrike esencijalnih ulja, vinarije, čak i najveću reklamnu agenciju u državi.
So these stories together became the Herald Tribune business cover. And when this story posted, I ran to my computer to send it to the IMF official. And I said, "Just in case you're looking for entrepreneurs to feature at your next investment conference, here are a couple of women."
Sve te priče su postale naslovnica ekonomskog izdanja Herald Tribune. Kada je priča objavljena, poslala sam je onom zvaničniku MMF-a uz poruku: ,,Ukoliko tražite preduzetnike za sledeći sastanak investitora, evo nekoliko žena.''
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
But think about this. The IMF official is hardly the only person to automatically file women under micro. The biases, whether intentional or otherwise, are pervasive, and so are the misleading mental images. If you see the word "microfinance," what comes to mind? Most people say women. And if you see the word "entrepreneur," most people think men. Why is that? Because we aim low and we think small when it comes to women.
Ali uzmite u obzir da taj zvaničnik MMF-a nije jedini koji žene smatra zanemarljivim. Namerno ili ne, predrasude i netačne pretpostavke su sveprisutne. Kada se pomenu ,,mikrofinansije'', na šta se prvo pomisli? Uglavnom na žene. A kada se kaže ,,preduzetnik'', uglavnom na muškarce. Zbog čega? Zato što imamo premala očekivanja kada je reč o ženama.
Microfinance is an incredibly powerful tool that leads to self-sufficiency and self-respect, but we must move beyond micro-hopes and micro-ambitions for women, because they have so much greater hopes for themselves. They want to move from micro to medium and beyond. And in many places, they're there. In the U.S., women-owned businesses will create five and a half million new jobs by 2018. In South Korea and Indonesia, women own nearly half a million firms. China, women run 20 percent of all small businesses. And in the developing world overall, That figure is 40 to 50 percent.
Mikrofinansije su vrlo moćna alatka na putu ka samostalnosti i samopoštovanju, ali moramo da gajimo više od mikro-nada i mikro-ambicija za žene, jer one od sebe očekuju mnogo više. Žele da sa mikro pređu na srednje i više. A na mnogim mestima su to i uspele. U SAD će poslovi koje vode žene do 2018. stvoriti 5,5 miliona radnih mesta. U Južnoj Koreji i Indoneziji žene drže oko pola miliona firmi. U Kini žene vode 20% malih preduzeća. Za sve zemlje u razvoju, ta cifra iznosi ukupno 40-50%.
Nearly everywhere I go, I meet incredibly interesting entrepreneurs who are seeking access to finance, access to markets and established business networks. They are often ignored because they're harder to help. It is much riskier to give a 50,000 dollar loan than it is to give a 500 dollar loan. And as the World Bank recently noted, women are stuck in a productivity trap. Those in small businesses can't get the capital they need to expand and those in microbusiness can't grow out of them.
Gde god da krenem, srećem neverovatno zanimljive preduzetnike koji traže pristup finansijama, tržištima i postojećim poslovnim mrežama. Često ih ignorišu jer im je teže pomoći. Mnogo je veći rizik dati zajam od $50.000 nego od $500. Po rečima Svetske Banke, žene preduzetnici su zaglavljene u mestu. Vlasnice malih preduzeća ne mogu da sakupe sredstva za proširenje, a one u mikrobiznisu ne mogu da ga prevaziđu.
Recently I was at the State Department in Washington and I met an incredibly passionate entrepreneur from Ghana. She sells chocolates. And she had come to Washington, not seeking a handout and not seeking a microloan. She had come seeking serious investment dollars so that she could build the factory and buy the equipment she needs to export her chocolates to Africa, Europe, the Middle East and far beyond -- capital that would help her to employ more than the 20 people that she already has working for her, and capital that would fuel her own country's economic climb.
Nedavno sam u Stejt Departmentu u Vašingtonu upoznala neverovatno strastvenu ženu preduzetnika iz Gane. Prodaje čokoladu. Nije došla u Vašington tražeći poklon ili mikrozajam, već ozbiljnu investiciju kako bi mogla da izgradi fabriku i kupi neophodnu opremu za izvoz čokolade u Afriku, Evropu, Bliski Istok, pa i šire - pomoću čega bi zaposlila više od 20 ljudi koji već rade za nju, i što bi pojačalo ekonomiju njene domovine.
The great news is we already know what works. Theory and empirical evidence Have already taught us. We don't need to invent solutions because we have them -- cash flow loans based in income rather than assets, loans that use secure contracts rather than collateral, because women often don't own land. And Kiva.org, the microlender, is actually now experimenting with crowdsourcing small and medium sized loans. And that's just to start.
Na sreću, već znamo koje metode uspevaju. Naučili smo to iz teorije i iskustva. Ne moramo da smišljamo rešenja jer ona već postoje - povoljne pozajmice zasnovane na prihodu, a ne imovini, sa sigurnim ugovorima umesto zaloga, pošto dosta žena ne poseduje zemljište. A Kiva.org, servis za mikropozajmice, eksperimentiše sa prikupljanjem sredstava za male i srednje pozajmice od korisnika interneta. I to je samo početak.
Recently it has become very much in fashion to call women "the emerging market of the emerging market." I think that is terrific. You know why? Because -- and I say this as somebody who worked in finance -- 500 billion dollars at least has gone into the emerging markets in the past decade. Because investors saw the potential for return at a time of slowing economic growth, and so they created financial products and financial innovation tailored to the emerging markets.
U poslednje vreme je moderno žene zvati ,,tržištem u razvoju trišta u razvoju''. Mislim da je to sjajno. Znate li zašto? Jer kao neko u finansijskom sektoru znam da je protekle decenije u tržišta u razvoju uloženo najmanje 500 milijardi dolara. Investitori tu vide potencijal za zaradu dok ekonomski razvoj usporava, pa su stvorili finansijske ugovore i inovacije prema potrebama tržišta u razvoju.
How wonderful would it be if we were prepared to replace all of our lofty words with our wallets and invest 500 billion dollars unleashing women's economic potential? Just think of the benefits when it comes to jobs, productivity, employment, child nutrition, maternal mortality, literacy and much, much more. Because, as the World Economic Forum noted, smaller gender gaps are directly correlated with increased economic competitiveness. And not one country in all the world has eliminated its economic participation gap -- not one.
Zar ne bi bilo divno kada bismo sve lepe reči potkrepili novcem i investicijom od 500 milijardi dolara iskoristili ekonomski potencijal žena? Zamislite samo o povoljnim posledicama po radna mesta, produktivnost, zapošljavanje, negu dece, smrtnost majki, stopu pismenosti i još mnogo toga. Jer, prema Svetskom ekonomskom forumu, veća ekonomska konkurentnost direktno smanjuje razliku u zaradi među polovima. Ni jedna država nije uspela da ukloni razliku u udelu polova u radnoj snazi - ni jedna.
So the great news is this is an incredible opportunity. We have so much room to grow. So you see, this is not about doing good, this is about global growth and global employment. It is about how we invest and it's about how we see women. And women can no longer be both half the population and a special interest group.
Drago nam je što imamo ovu neverovatnu priliku i mnogo prostora za razvoj. Vidite, ovde se ne radi o dobročinstvu, već o globalnom razvoju i zapošljavanju. Radi se o načinu investiranja i gledanja na žene. Žene ne mogu više da istovremeno budu polovina stanovništva i ugrožena grupa.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)
Oftentimes I get into very interesting discussions with reporters who say to me, "Gayle, these are great stories, but you're really writing about the exceptions." Now that makes me pause for just a couple reasons. First of all, for exceptions, there are a lot of them and they're important. Secondly, when we talk about men who are succeeding, we rightly consider them icons or pioneers or innovators to be emulated. And when we talk about women, they are either exceptions to be dismissed or aberrations to be ignored. And finally, there is no society anywhere in all the world that is not changed except by its most exceptional. So why wouldn't we celebrate and elevate these change makers and job creators rather than overlook them?
Često mi tokom zanimljivih rasprava novinari kažu: „Gejl, lepe su ti priče, ali radi se o izuzecima.'' Tu se zamislim iz više razloga. Prvo, ako su izuzeci, em ih ima dosta, em su značajni. Drugo, kad pričamo o uspešnim muškarcima, sa pravom ih smatramo ikonama ili pionirima ili inovatorima na koje se treba ugledati. Kad je reč o ženama, one su ili zanemarljivi izuzeci, ili greške koje treba ignorisati. Na kraju, promene u svim društvima sveta vrše samo oni koji su najizuzetniji. Zašto onda ne bismo slavili te tvorce promena i radnih mesta, umesto da ih zanemarimo?
This topic of resilience is very personal to me and in many ways has shaped my life. My mom was a single mom who worked at the phone company during the day and sold Tupperware at night so that I could have every opportunity possible. We shopped double coupons and layaway and consignment stores, and when she got sick with stage four breast cancer and could no longer work, we even applied for food stamps. And when I would feel sorry for myself as nine or 10 year-old girls do, she would say to me, "My dear, on a scale of major world tragedies, yours is not a three."
Lično sam vezana za tu priču o otpornosti, koja mi je umnogome oblikovala život. Imala sam samohranu majku koja je danju radila kao teleoperater, a noću prodavala plastično posuđe kako bi mi pružila sve što je mogla. Kupovale smo kuponima i na odloženo u komisionima, a kad joj je otkriven četvrti stepen karcinoma dojke i više nije mogla da radi, prijavile smo se i za socijalnu pomoć. A kada bih počela da sažaljevam sebe, kao što umeju devojčice od 9 ili 10 godina rekla bi mi: „Dušo, u odnosu na velike svetske tragedije, ovo nije ništa posebno.''
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And when I was applying to business school and felt certain I couldn't do it and nobody I knew had done it, I went to my aunt who survived years of beatings at the hand of her husband and escaped a marriage of abuse with only her dignity intact. And she told me, "Never import other people's limitations."
Kad sam se upisivala na ekonomski fakultet i bila sigurna da neću uspeti jer niko koga poznajem nije uspeo, posetila sam tetku koju je muž godinama tukao, i kojoj je posle propalog braka ostalo jedino dostojanstvo. Rekla mi je: „Ne nameći sebi tuđa ograničenja.''
And when I complained to my grandmother, a World War II veteran who worked in film for 50 years and who supported me from the age of 13, that I was terrified that if I turned down a plum assignment at ABC for a fellowship overseas, I would never ever, ever find another job, she said, "Kiddo, I'm going to tell you two things. First of all, no one turns down a Fulbright, and secondly, McDonald's is always hiring." (Laughter) "You will find a job. Take the leap."
A kad sam se požalila baki, veteranu Drugog svetskog rata, koja je 50 godina radila na filmovima, a mene izdržavala od 13. godine, da se plašim da neću pronači novi posao ako odbijem onaj iz ABC i počnem studije u inostranstvu, rekla je: „Mala, da ti kažem dve stvari. Prvo, stipendija se ne odbija, i drugo, u Mekonaldsu uvek ima mesta.'' (Smeh) „Naći ćeš posao. Samo napred.''
The women in my family are not exceptions. The women in this room and watching in L.A. and all around the world are not exceptions. We are not a special interest group. We are the majority. And for far too long, we have underestimated ourselves and been undervalued by others. It is time for us to aim higher when it comes to women, to invest more and to deploy our dollars to benefit women all around the world.
Žene iz moje porodice nisu izuzeci. Žene u ovoj sobi, ili one koje gledaju u Los Anđelesu i širom sveta, nisu izuzeci. Mi nismo ugrožena grupa. Mi smo većina. I već predugo potcenjujemo same sebe, a drugi nas ne shvataju ozbiljno. Došlo je vreme da od žena očekujemo više, da ulažemo više i utrošimo novac na korist svih žena sveta.
We can make a difference, and make a difference, not just for women, but for a global economy that desperately needs their contributions. Together we can make certain that the so-called exceptions begin to rule. When we change the way we see ourselves, others will follow. And it is time for all of us to think bigger.
Možemo da promenimo stanje stvari, i to ne samo za žene, već i za svetsku ekonomiju, kojoj očajnički treba njihov doprinos. Zajedno možemo da se pobrinemo da ti takozvani izuzeci postanu pravilo. Kad promenimo mišljenje o sebi, promeniće ga i drugi. Vreme je da svi počnemo da očekujemo više.
Thank you very much.
Mnogo vam hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)