WEF 2013: Lagarde talks gender equality, mentions Delhi gangrape victim

Davos: IMF chief Christine Lagarde invoked the Delhi gangrape incident during a speech at the World Economic Forum while emphasising that expectations of Indian women on gender equity must be met. She also remembered the young Pakistani victim Malala Yousafzai while addressing the gathering at the annual WEF meeting. “I dedicate the moment (of addressing WEF annual meet) to Malala, daughter of Pakistan, and another daughter in India (rape case),” International Monetary Fund chief Lagarde said. Touching upon India, the IMF Managing Director emphasised that the expectations of Indian women must be met and rued that policymakers had failed to pay attention to the crucial issues of equitable distribution and gender equality. [caption id=“attachment_600099” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] IMF chief Christine Lagarde at the World Economic Forum. AFP[/caption] “… But you will ask what it has to do with economy. It is indeed about economy and equality and bringing in prosperity. No policymakers have paid enough to the fact that more equal distribution of income bringing in better. Gender inequality is also very important and the policymakers have not paid enough attention to either of the two. The fact is when women do better the country does better and policymakers need to understand this,” Lagarde said. In a case that had shocked the nation and triggered protests in India, a 23-year-old student was brutally gangraped in a moving bus in New Delhi on 16 December last year and later she died at a hospital in Singapore. Earlier in October, Pakistani teenage activist Malala became that target of Taliban militants. She was shot in the head for campaigning for girls’ education and had to be flown to the UK for medical treatment. Lagarde ended her speech by saying that she wants to see more respect for daughters in India and Pakistan. By 2025 she said that two-thirds of the world population would be in India and the youth is going to be a strong force across the world. “How can we successfully navigate in this world of future. This new generation sings differently. There are Facebook and Twitter and if we rank them as countries they would be third and fourth largest in the world,” she noted. Stressing on the importance of co-operation at the global level, the IMF boss said that in a flat world there was no way to hide. According to her, when hope is lost, then one turns to young people. “When you lose hope you turn to young people and probably this is the time we talk to them,” she added. The IMF chief also said that there should be zero tolerance for corruption, besides there should be a sense of accountability in tackling the global crisis. “Things are changing but we need to see more and better changes in 2013… We need cross border cooperation on issues like shadow banking and derivatives. If we look beyond short term we would indeed move past the crisis,” she added. PTI