Malta capital of women empowerment during SIGEF Women Summit

Beyond the business arena, are women entrepreneurs set out to changing the world and making it a better place? That was the question underlying the Social Innovation and Global Ethics Forum (SIGEF) Women Summit Special Edition which was held in Malta on June 12 and 13, 2023 at respectively Palazzo Parisio and the Phoenicia Malta.

Perhaps the answer was best articulated in the words of the Miriam Dalli, Minister for Environment, Energy and Enterprise as she stated: “We can shape the world we live in; throughout history women have demonstrated incredible strength and resilience; we have managed to shatter glass ceilings; we have managed to defy societal expectations and we have managed to pioneer groundbreaking advancements across many fields such as science, technology, politics and the arts, leaving a lasting impact on people across the globe”.

As for the presentations and debates, which were often fascinating whilst always serene, assured and detailed, they left no doubt as to the fact that this answer was shared by the 25 women speakers (plus six men) most of whom started off by taking on the challenge of changing their own lives before embarking on their often equally challenging projects.

“My mission now is to share love, positive energy, joy of living and to inspire a new generation of people to make the world a better place” stated one of the speakers.

That same thought was relayed by Hedva Ser, an artist renowned for her bronze sculptures, textured tapestries and intricate jewelry that reproduce her sculptures that has put her among artists who have succeeded in bringing people of all religions and nationalities together to reflect on some of the most difficult issues of our time and continues to use her art to bring the message of peace and tolerance to new generations.

Miriam Dalli, Minister for Environment, Energy and Enterprise

In 2011, Hedva Ser was named UNESCO Artist for Peace and, since 2017, she has been UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Diplomacy, and the French government has honoured her with the prestigious Légion d'Honneur and Officier des Arts et des Lettres.

The Summit however was no exercise in wishful thinking or sophistry and can in no way be considered as yet another gathering around slightly revisited and over-used views on the difficulties of being a woman in a man’s world. For beyond the motto of Women Changing the World and the everyday aspects and challenges of gender equality, the themes that were tackled were all contemporary, critical, technically advanced, and so far, falsely considered to be a man’s field of expertise.

Artificial Intelligence, Web3 and Metaverse, or again the Arts, and Building a more Sustainable and Inclusive Future Benefiting All, were among the exciting and highly inspiring topics that were debated. Experiences were shared that proved speakers to be a thrilling source of inspiration in sustainable woman-entrepreneurship lifestyle.

In a world of accelerating climate change, post covid lifestyles, as well as the development of new technologies including AI, Metaverse and Blockchain, in terms of opportunities to change the systems of organization that meet the aspirations of the new generations were assessed. A shared vision between women and men emerged and directions were proposed, notably by the French National Coordinator for Artificial Intelligence at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Guillaume Avrin and his deputy Fabien le Voyer.

All in all, it was unanimously stated and agreed that more female entrepreneurial needs be unleashed, and much still needs be done to achieve true gender equality. Again, in the words of Miriam Dalli: “We must admit achieving gender equality has been a difficult and lengthy journey which I believe we must do together. And if you’d ask me, I still have my doubts whether we achieved gender equality. I think we still have a long way to go because along the years, along history women have been faced with prejudice, with gender bias, structural obstacles that have impeded our advancement. But on a positive note, because we stand united, because we are determined to dismantle these barriers, we can continue building a world where women can thrive unrestricted by societal limitations.”

Echoed, in political terms, by Rebecca Buttigieg, Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms and Equality at the Maltese Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Reforms, who reminded the audience that “We still look at women in politics as something of a rarity which speaks volumes that we have to work much harder to make it very normal for us and not ask these questions like how come you are women in politics”, it brought home the scale of the progress that still needs be done.

Though indeed, throughout the Summit, a road map was deployed by all the speakers. It proposed to start from changing curriculum offerings in schools and universities, all the way to encouraging more women to work in new technologies, finance, angel investing and conscious venture capitalism to create and scale the innovative new approaches the world needs to address current social, environmental and economic challenges.

And the conclusion came from the organiser of the summit and Founder and CEO of SIGEF and Horyou inviting speakers and participants to “embrace the AI and Metaverse technological advancement to create a digital environment whereby all citizens of the planet, women and men equally, that have sustainable projects and are promoting or taking actions that are echoing the 2030 agenda of the United Nations are able to share them to create a wave of change for good.”

The summit was followed by a special ceremony during which five women were honored with the SIGEF Award for their exceptional achievements, they are: Souad Dibi, humanitarian and founder of Féminine Elkhir Association; Maja Theuma, Paralympic swimmer, Athletes Representative for the Malta Paralympic Executive Committee; Cristina Lunghi, Founder and president Arborus NGO, creator of the Gender Equality European and International Standard - GEEIS, which Bureau Veritas Certification carries out the audits; Hedva Ser, artist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, creator of the Tree of Peace Artwork; and Barbara Akuorkor Benisa, High Commissioner of Ghana to Malta, for her humanitarian leadership benefiting citizens of Ghana during the pandemic.