Cherie Blair counsels on women empowerment
Feb 28, 2007
CHERIE Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was in Uganda this week on a short visit. She talked to <i>The New Vision</i>'s <b>Barbara Kaija</b> and <b>Sylvia Juuko</b> about her passion for empowering women.
CHERIE Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was in Uganda this week on a short visit. She talked to The New Vision's Barbara Kaija and Sylvia Juuko about her passion for empowering women.
QUESTIONS: Women empowerment is an issue that is dear to your heart. Why do you care so much about it?
ANSWER: I think it is interesting in many ways. I'm a woman and I was brought up mainly by women. I have a daughter and three sons and it’s absolutely clear that by empowering women, you can make the world a better place for men and women.
I was brought up by my mother and my paternal grandparents. My father left the family when I was about eight. So my mother had the responsibility to bring up myself and my sister on her own. My grandfather was a seaman and he used to travel between Liverpool and Lagos, Nigeria. So he would be at home for 10 days and away for six weeks throughout the year. So even at an early age I was very aware of Africa.
In Uganda most women are financially illiterate. Banks use a language they don’t understand, they can’t sign cheques or even use an ATM card. Is there anything Uganda can learn from Britain?
It’s fascinating what the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is trying to do with this new partnership with dfcu bank. Not to just allow access but also give training to women entrepreneurs to understand a lot more how business works, particularly women with small and medium enterprises who might want to do export trade and expand to global markets.
I held a meeting with a group of women who have been involved in the Gender and Growth Assessment (GGA) which IFC had done with Uganda. Many of the women who own business said they lacked the financial knowledge and training to manage the demands of a growing business. What they needed from IFC and the world community was more practical help.
In Tanzania, I participated in workshops that IFC was doing with women where they were given a huge amount of practical assistance. There were experts in marketing looking at products and giving them practical advice on how to transform those products from domestic market products to those that the developed world might want to buy. One of the ladies had nice spice products in different size packaging where fonts would change, so a bigger package wouldn’t look identical to smaller packages. She was told that if you look at Coca-Cola bottles, irrespective of size, the logo always looks the same. So these little details mean the product is more attractive to the developed world.
It’s not just women who can’t write cheques but it’s also about business women. Many of them started business without a background of business school or experience in business but learn as they go along. That expertise is important to them. It’s fantastic that project gives them these tips.
As for those who can’t sign cheques or use ATM cards, it’s just that they have not been educated. The great thing that has happened to Uganda is that the Government has made a huge effort to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and exceed them regarding primary education of girls to ensure that the next generation is different, and also ensure that Uganda will be a nation that has no problem of illiteracy.
Many women in Uganda don’t own property or land yet many banks insist on collateral to get finance. What should be done to rectify this situation?
It’s very interesting because this question is not unique to Uganda. It came up in Tanzania and Rwanda. Traditionally, women have not owned land and very often the widows lose it.
Surprisingly, it was the case in Britain. Women didn’t inherit land. Did you read Pride and Prejudice? Isn’t that the whole point of the book, the fact that Mrs. Bennet is desperate to have her daughters married because when her husband dies, she and her daughters would be left with no home at the mercy of Mr. Collins. But things have changed in Britain. It has been a problem when traditional cultures have not recognised women’s right to own land.
In Britain we changed in the late 19th century but there still were big problems until 1975 when we had the Sex Discrimination Act. My mother couldn’t get a mortgage herself because she didn’t have a husband to sign. She had a husband but he wasn’t there because my parents didn’t get divorced.
I'm glad to say your government is starting to deal with it and they have put in place laws which give women rights but they have been overridden by customary laws. They have to do something to change customary laws to ensure they don’t override rights that have been given to women by Parliament to own land.
We can do something else as well. When we are talking about collateral it doesn’t have to be land. There is room for being more imaginative. There is a Bill in Parliament on the Solicitor General’s list about movable property.
As one woman said this afternoon, she didn’t know what that was because it’s a legal term. But immovable property is the land you can’t take away and movable property is anything else like furniture, jewellery, good will of the business, and guaranteed future contract to supply, which means if they show the bank they have regular income coming in then the bank is prepared to lend against that. So the change in the law is to make it easier for banks to regard these things as collateral. This can be empowering to women because it allows them to get loans they need to grow their business.
This is also empowering Uganda because if these women can grow their businesses they can pay more to the exchequer in taxes and contribute more to local economy. What was fascinating about the IFC is what they said GDP, that about 2% of GDP is foregone by restricting women participating in economic activities. You could build a lot more schools and hospitals with this income which could benefit men as much as women. I know FIDA in particular is pressing for that law to come through and be passed in Parliament. I'm hopeful that we will see that being a priority of the Government.
You are Mrs. Blair, the wife of Prime Minster Tony Blair, a mother and a professional woman. How do you balance those roles?
I'm always trying to juggle these balls in the air but I don’t necessarily succeed all the time. Having had a working mother myself, I don’t think my role is that much different from any other working women. I don’t know if you have children but you know exactly what it means when you have deadlines at work or when a child gets sick or homework goes missing. It’s a phenomenon that is not unique to me by any means.
So I think as women become more economically empowered, that will become all the more familiar. My particular position means that I'm perhaps more in the public eye doing that. But I'm also very lucky, aren’t I, because unlike my mother who had to rely on her mother in-law for everything else, I have the means to be able to do this? I have a fantastic nanny; my mum is a fantastic grandmother and the team that works in my office.
There is a whole team that helps me support my family. But the other thing is that men now want to be more involved. It’s starting to be more acceptable to acknowledge that they have a role and it’s not enough for them simply to be the bread winner. Just as women want to contribute to income, men want to contribute to family life.
We still need more role models in Uganda?
You do but it’s interesting how it is a generation thing and how important it is for young men and boys growing up and knowing their father and have role models at home.
Who is your role model?
There are a number of people. I have already spoken about my mother and how she is still an inspiration me. My grandmother too. She didn’t get an education especially because my grandfather was away very often and before he went for six-week trips he used to go for six-months trips to America in the 1930-40s, so he was away for a long time. But in my legal practice when I was growing up in Liverpool, the very first woman Queen’s Counsel (QC) was called Dame Rose Heilbron. As a young girl she was particularly famous in Liverpool and when I started at the bar, she was a judge and I would appear in front of her and she was the one who showed me that a woman could become a QC.
Any first ladies who are your role models?
The thing that I found over the last 10 years is that there are many fantastic First Ladies across the world that are doing a tremendous job in a way that they are comfortable with and a way that their country is comfortable with because each country has its own different demands.
Your First Lady Janet Museveni, for example, has become an MP in her own right and of course I have always been very friendly to both Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Across Africa I have many friends like Mrs. Kikwete of Tanzania, Mrs. Janet Kagame of Rwanda and Mrs. Mbeki of South Africa — all these women across the Commonwealth that I have been lucky to meet because of CHOGM. And we are one big happy family in the Commonwealth.
In most African countries, when there is a shortfall in the national budget, the social sector which mostly affects women is cut. Do you think more women should join politics to bargain for that?
I think women have a role in political life: to represent the interests of the 50% of the population and to make sure women’s issues are put at the forefront. You have seen in Uganda the increasing number of women MPs, how women’s issues have become more prominent. Britain, where women MPs are 19 per cent, doesn’t do as well as Uganda but women have made an impact since 1997.
We have seen laws on domestic violence, and strengthening of our employment laws that favour women, work life and family issues. We have seen priority being given to education.
This is a priority my husband has always stood up for. There is a realisation across the world that it’s possible to invest in education when talking about expanding the economy and it’s not the first place to look when suggesting cut backs. The more you invest in education, the more competitive you become in the world.
Do you have any regrets?
I'm sure there are a lot of things that in hindsight I would have loved to do better. On May 2, 1997 after we won the election, pressmen tricked me into coming down to receive something at the door. When I opened the door I had my picture taken in my night dress. I'm sure that picture went all over the world but with the wisdom of hindsight I wouldn’t have opened that door.
On the other hand that picture is quite popular with other women. When I opened that door, my thought was ‘Oh my God, my husband will kill me’. How could I have been so stupid? I laugh about it. It’s only every now and then that somebody reminds me and I'm like ‘Oh my God, I looked terrible’. If only I was the sort of woman who even having been in bed all night happened to look immaculately groomed, it would be so much easier.
QUESTIONS: Women empowerment is an issue that is dear to your heart. Why do you care so much about it?
ANSWER: I think it is interesting in many ways. I'm a woman and I was brought up mainly by women. I have a daughter and three sons and it’s absolutely clear that by empowering women, you can make the world a better place for men and women.
I was brought up by my mother and my paternal grandparents. My father left the family when I was about eight. So my mother had the responsibility to bring up myself and my sister on her own. My grandfather was a seaman and he used to travel between Liverpool and Lagos, Nigeria. So he would be at home for 10 days and away for six weeks throughout the year. So even at an early age I was very aware of Africa.
In Uganda most women are financially illiterate. Banks use a language they don’t understand, they can’t sign cheques or even use an ATM card. Is there anything Uganda can learn from Britain?
It’s fascinating what the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is trying to do with this new partnership with dfcu bank. Not to just allow access but also give training to women entrepreneurs to understand a lot more how business works, particularly women with small and medium enterprises who might want to do export trade and expand to global markets.
I held a meeting with a group of women who have been involved in the Gender and Growth Assessment (GGA) which IFC had done with Uganda. Many of the women who own business said they lacked the financial knowledge and training to manage the demands of a growing business. What they needed from IFC and the world community was more practical help.
In Tanzania, I participated in workshops that IFC was doing with women where they were given a huge amount of practical assistance. There were experts in marketing looking at products and giving them practical advice on how to transform those products from domestic market products to those that the developed world might want to buy. One of the ladies had nice spice products in different size packaging where fonts would change, so a bigger package wouldn’t look identical to smaller packages. She was told that if you look at Coca-Cola bottles, irrespective of size, the logo always looks the same. So these little details mean the product is more attractive to the developed world.
It’s not just women who can’t write cheques but it’s also about business women. Many of them started business without a background of business school or experience in business but learn as they go along. That expertise is important to them. It’s fantastic that project gives them these tips.
As for those who can’t sign cheques or use ATM cards, it’s just that they have not been educated. The great thing that has happened to Uganda is that the Government has made a huge effort to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and exceed them regarding primary education of girls to ensure that the next generation is different, and also ensure that Uganda will be a nation that has no problem of illiteracy.
Many women in Uganda don’t own property or land yet many banks insist on collateral to get finance. What should be done to rectify this situation?
It’s very interesting because this question is not unique to Uganda. It came up in Tanzania and Rwanda. Traditionally, women have not owned land and very often the widows lose it.
Surprisingly, it was the case in Britain. Women didn’t inherit land. Did you read Pride and Prejudice? Isn’t that the whole point of the book, the fact that Mrs. Bennet is desperate to have her daughters married because when her husband dies, she and her daughters would be left with no home at the mercy of Mr. Collins. But things have changed in Britain. It has been a problem when traditional cultures have not recognised women’s right to own land.
In Britain we changed in the late 19th century but there still were big problems until 1975 when we had the Sex Discrimination Act. My mother couldn’t get a mortgage herself because she didn’t have a husband to sign. She had a husband but he wasn’t there because my parents didn’t get divorced.
I'm glad to say your government is starting to deal with it and they have put in place laws which give women rights but they have been overridden by customary laws. They have to do something to change customary laws to ensure they don’t override rights that have been given to women by Parliament to own land.
We can do something else as well. When we are talking about collateral it doesn’t have to be land. There is room for being more imaginative. There is a Bill in Parliament on the Solicitor General’s list about movable property.
As one woman said this afternoon, she didn’t know what that was because it’s a legal term. But immovable property is the land you can’t take away and movable property is anything else like furniture, jewellery, good will of the business, and guaranteed future contract to supply, which means if they show the bank they have regular income coming in then the bank is prepared to lend against that. So the change in the law is to make it easier for banks to regard these things as collateral. This can be empowering to women because it allows them to get loans they need to grow their business.
This is also empowering Uganda because if these women can grow their businesses they can pay more to the exchequer in taxes and contribute more to local economy. What was fascinating about the IFC is what they said GDP, that about 2% of GDP is foregone by restricting women participating in economic activities. You could build a lot more schools and hospitals with this income which could benefit men as much as women. I know FIDA in particular is pressing for that law to come through and be passed in Parliament. I'm hopeful that we will see that being a priority of the Government.
You are Mrs. Blair, the wife of Prime Minster Tony Blair, a mother and a professional woman. How do you balance those roles?
I'm always trying to juggle these balls in the air but I don’t necessarily succeed all the time. Having had a working mother myself, I don’t think my role is that much different from any other working women. I don’t know if you have children but you know exactly what it means when you have deadlines at work or when a child gets sick or homework goes missing. It’s a phenomenon that is not unique to me by any means.
So I think as women become more economically empowered, that will become all the more familiar. My particular position means that I'm perhaps more in the public eye doing that. But I'm also very lucky, aren’t I, because unlike my mother who had to rely on her mother in-law for everything else, I have the means to be able to do this? I have a fantastic nanny; my mum is a fantastic grandmother and the team that works in my office.
There is a whole team that helps me support my family. But the other thing is that men now want to be more involved. It’s starting to be more acceptable to acknowledge that they have a role and it’s not enough for them simply to be the bread winner. Just as women want to contribute to income, men want to contribute to family life.
We still need more role models in Uganda?
You do but it’s interesting how it is a generation thing and how important it is for young men and boys growing up and knowing their father and have role models at home.
Who is your role model?
There are a number of people. I have already spoken about my mother and how she is still an inspiration me. My grandmother too. She didn’t get an education especially because my grandfather was away very often and before he went for six-week trips he used to go for six-months trips to America in the 1930-40s, so he was away for a long time. But in my legal practice when I was growing up in Liverpool, the very first woman Queen’s Counsel (QC) was called Dame Rose Heilbron. As a young girl she was particularly famous in Liverpool and when I started at the bar, she was a judge and I would appear in front of her and she was the one who showed me that a woman could become a QC.
Any first ladies who are your role models?
The thing that I found over the last 10 years is that there are many fantastic First Ladies across the world that are doing a tremendous job in a way that they are comfortable with and a way that their country is comfortable with because each country has its own different demands.
Your First Lady Janet Museveni, for example, has become an MP in her own right and of course I have always been very friendly to both Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Across Africa I have many friends like Mrs. Kikwete of Tanzania, Mrs. Janet Kagame of Rwanda and Mrs. Mbeki of South Africa — all these women across the Commonwealth that I have been lucky to meet because of CHOGM. And we are one big happy family in the Commonwealth.
In most African countries, when there is a shortfall in the national budget, the social sector which mostly affects women is cut. Do you think more women should join politics to bargain for that?
I think women have a role in political life: to represent the interests of the 50% of the population and to make sure women’s issues are put at the forefront. You have seen in Uganda the increasing number of women MPs, how women’s issues have become more prominent. Britain, where women MPs are 19 per cent, doesn’t do as well as Uganda but women have made an impact since 1997.
We have seen laws on domestic violence, and strengthening of our employment laws that favour women, work life and family issues. We have seen priority being given to education.
This is a priority my husband has always stood up for. There is a realisation across the world that it’s possible to invest in education when talking about expanding the economy and it’s not the first place to look when suggesting cut backs. The more you invest in education, the more competitive you become in the world.
Do you have any regrets?
I'm sure there are a lot of things that in hindsight I would have loved to do better. On May 2, 1997 after we won the election, pressmen tricked me into coming down to receive something at the door. When I opened the door I had my picture taken in my night dress. I'm sure that picture went all over the world but with the wisdom of hindsight I wouldn’t have opened that door.
On the other hand that picture is quite popular with other women. When I opened that door, my thought was ‘Oh my God, my husband will kill me’. How could I have been so stupid? I laugh about it. It’s only every now and then that somebody reminds me and I'm like ‘Oh my God, I looked terrible’. If only I was the sort of woman who even having been in bed all night happened to look immaculately groomed, it would be so much easier.