I am Generation Equality: Sandiso Sibisi founder of 'Born to Succeed Women' and Director at COOi Studios South Africa
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.Date:
Sandiso Sibidi is the founder of Born to Succeed Women and Director at COOi Studios. Photo: Cooi Studios/ Vije Vijendranath
Three things you can do to make this world gender-equal:
- Learn: About the Beijing 12 critical areas.
- Share: With your family, community, friends and networks. The more awareness we have, the better.
- Act: Do something in your family or community to address one of the 12 critical areas.
I am Generation Equality because…
I am touched by the hardship that women go through to be afforded a seat at any table whether it be in a boardroom, at their home or in their communities. The norm is for decisions about us, to be made for us and that disturbs me greatly.
What are the most urgent issues of our time?
Equal rights, equal opportunities for both men and women, in practical terms it’s about; equal opportunity for girls to go to school and get educated, the need for equal participation of women in the economy and lastly, a right to quality healthcare.
What's your advice to young people on actions they can take?
Young people, need to remain resilient, and continue to pull up a chair at the table even when no seat has been provided for them. We are the most powerful young generation that has ever lived, not just in the number of young people alive globally when compared to adults, but we have digital tools available to us, exponentiating our effects. We also need to take advantage of strategic partnerships to meet our goals, let’s stop doing initiatives in silos, collaborate and form partnerships that are mutually beneficial, this will allow initiatives to be more scalable.
What issues do you think need to be worked on?
I think awareness of symptoms, is something we need to be trained about, myself included. I believe that often when issues occur, when we reflect, we realise that they were signs along the way, we either doubted them or ignored them. Gender Based Violence, being an obvious example of this issue, most GBV cases occur between a women and partner, symptoms of poor anger management or intensive jealousy are usually there, but we ignore them.
How can men be a part of the solutions?
Every little bit counts, being part of the solution, is merely looking around you and addressing the issues that surround you, be it amongst your family, friends and colleagues, at minimum, that is what society needs from you.
“...women are the backbone of any community or society..."
Why should everyone be a women's rights activist?
Women are the backbone of any community or society, they turn houses into homes, they nurture children, they are an intricate part of society, therefore, they needed to be treated fairly in all spheres of life in the home, in business and in the community.