As March rolls around each year, women are thrust into the spotlight the world over as International Women’s Day is celebrated. Despite the remarkable progress seen in some areas, gender disparities are a persistent form of inequality in every country. Women have had to overcome many hurdles, make great sacrifices and persevere harder to go up the ladder of success. 

UNDP has recently undergone a major restructuring to align the organization with SDG 5 — gender equality — and to bring it in line with UN Development System reform.

Women and men now hold an equal number of posts in senior leadership. This historic achievement not only helps UNDP to ‘walk the talk’ but also sets an example to advocate for other organizations to do so as well.

We sat down with Faiza Effendi, a Pakistani national now serving as the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, to know more about her journey at UNDP over the past 18 years and to hear firsthand what her experience has been as a woman serving in the UN system. 

Question: Could you share a bit about your journey, from where you started to where you are now?

I started off as a banker at American Express bank in Islamabad, Pakistan as a fresh Business Finance graduate, and soon realized that my passion lied elsewhere. Following this short stint at the bank, I joined UNDP Afghanistan during the height of its security situation in 1993. The holistic mandate; covering road rehabilitation work, to demining and support to the country post cold war is what attracted me to this assignment. As a young and unmarried woman at the time, I ventured into unchartered territory early on in my career…

Following this assignment, I went on to pursue my higher studies, got married in between and also had the opportunity to work in numerous organizations, including Save the Children USA (an NGO) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Almost a decade later, I re-joined the UN system. I always felt that even though I had the disadvantage of not knowing the UN system as much as my colleagues, I had the advantage of having seen the world from the perspective of the civil society, a donor and the private sector. This has helped me to be more aware and client focused in my work with the United Nations.

Question: Have there been any instances where you have had to take a step back from your career/ rethink career decisions due to family commitments (children)? 

Oh yes, of course. There have been many such instances in my life. As working women we always seem to have challenges in our career trajectory due to the dual roles we take on. While committing to our work at the office, we also have the need to be a good wife and/or mother. This was particularly challenging for me after the birth of my first son. I felt like my brain was at the office and my heart was at home. But I soon realized that the key to balancing both worlds was to take one day at a time to figure it out without overthinking my situation. My secret sauce for success is two things; organization and prioritization. I sometimes look back and wonder at how I managed to achieve this work-life balance…

....but I couldn’t have done it by myself.

Having lost my mum at a young age, I relied on my supportive husband to share the responsibilities of home and kids. There have been instances where I’ve had to rethink career opportunities that presented themselves to me. I could have gone up the ladder much faster but since both my kids were young and still in school at the time, I decided to remain together with my family in the same location so as to not disturb their education.

Although I must say, this is not only common among women, but I’ve seen many of my male colleagues also make similar life decisions. At the end of the day, home is where my kids are, and family is priority. This is why one should always make decisions together, as a family, so that they will support you no matter what happens.

It’s a whole new ball game now that my sons are older and off to university themselves. That’s why I was able to accept this assignment to the beautiful, sunny shores of Sri Lanka. 

All too often, women and girls face discrimination at the home and in the labour market—resulting in negative repercussions in life in general.

With the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25) in 2020, this provides an opportunity to reassess the path to gender equality and adjust actions to close gender gaps, the recently launched ‘Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI)’ measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education.

The analysis reveals that, despite decades of progress closing the equality gap between men and women, close to 90 percent of men and women hold some sort of bias against women, providing new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality.

Question: Leadership styles of women and men can be different. Have there been any instances where your leadership style has been questioned by peers? 

I disagree on this. I personally don’t think leadership styles of women and men are different....at most I think women may approach issues differently. Women are perhaps more collaborative, less territorial and more nuanced in fostering relationships to manage issues that may arise in the workplace. Our negotiation skills are also advantageous. With more women entering the work force and climbing the corporate ladder, I’ve seen evolution with less confrontation from male counterparts and more respect of the work we do.

There have, however, definitely been instances where my decisions have been questioned over the years. I have learned through experience that the best way to move forward is to not take it personally. When you are able to keep your emotions at bay, you are able to tackle situations in a structured, focused manner with logic and precision. When you remove the emotional core of a workplace situation and apply the cold hard light of logic and knowledge you can almost always move on without being disappointed or disheartened. 

According to the report, over 40 percent feel that men make better business executives

—a social judgement, just for being a woman, an invisible barrier and an affront to fairness and real meritocracy.

Women make greater and faster progress where their individual empowerment or social power is lower. But they face a glass ceiling where they have greater responsibility, political leadership, social life and politics. 

Question: Women in leadership are constantly asked questions such as “What is your spouse doing in your duty station? How do you balance your family/ children?”

Have you been asked something similar and what has been your response in such instances?

Oh yes! “Are you married? What does your husband do? Is your partner with you at the duty station or not? Why isn’t your family with you? You left your kids behind!” are some of the most common ones. Due to varying cultures and educational systems across the world, especially in the south Asian region, I feel people find it hard to comprehend certain decisions working women have to make. While I do believe many of my male counterparts are not asked the same questions, in instances like these, it’s a matter of responding to their curiosity.

I was brought up in a family, with a working mum as a doctor and a very supportive father. My sisters and I were always supported and brought up to be independent in our chosen fields and I’ve been blessed to have an equally supportive husband. But coming from a Pakistani family, it has been tough. Whenever I have moved duty stations for new assignments, I am constantly questioned by my broader family about my decisions to travel around with my kids

I’ve always been grateful for the many like-minded friends I’ve made through my years in the UN system. Globalization truly is a beautiful thing, which cuts across cultures, religions and ethnicities the world over, and these friends have truly become my wider support system. These friends have helped me and my family through all my transitions across the world. 

As observed in the Gender Social Norms Index, women often face strong conventional societal expectations to be caregivers and homemakers; men are expected to be breadwinners.

Embedded in these social norms are longstanding patterns of exclusion from household and community decision making that limit women’s opportunities and choices. So, despite convergence on some outcome indicators—such as access to education at all levels and access to health care—women and girls in many countries still cannot reach their full potential. 

Question: Do you have any advice for young women who are also aspiring to move up the ladder in their careers? 

In certain cultures, women and girls are only brought up to be good listeners and are not encouraged to speak up or speak out. Due to this reason, women tend to bottle up many things and constrict themselves. In order to be successful in whatever you do, whether it be your life or career, you need to always remember to never be afraid of speaking up and pursuing your ambitions. Having a clear plan, organizing yourself, prioritizing and taking one day at a time truly does help to not only achieve great things in your career but also the right balance in life. 

Social norms within families mold individuals’ behaviours and beliefs, and preventive policies could create transformational change among both women and men.

As we enter the Decade of Action, we have only 10 years left to achieve this vision of a sustainable future equal for all.

We must act now to be the first generation that achieves gender equality and human rights for all women and girls everywhere.