In celebration of International Women's Day (IWD), PwC Qatar hosted two panels in line with the global campaign theme - ‘Each for Equal’. The discussion was centered around how people in Qatar can contribute to realising gender equality. This year’s theme focused on how gender equality is essential for economies and communities to thrive.
The sessions featured a diverse panel of accomplished women from across sectors and industry in Qatar. This included Sheikha Alanoud bint Hamad Al-Thani, Managing Director of Business Development, from Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFC), Abir Bougerra from Malomatia, Zeynep Yondem from Qatar Free Zones Authority, Eman Al-Kuwari from Ministry of Transport and Communications TASMU Smart Qatar Program, and Hind Zaki, Director of Strategy and Planning at Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council (QDRI). Each panelist brought a unique perspective to the discussion about the barriers they have faced in the workplace, and how they overcame these and ultimately build or lead some of the most successful businesses in the country.
The panel also featured Dave Verma, Consulting Director at PwC Qatar, who discussed the prominent role women have had on his own development. Dave mentioned how he commenced his management career working for a company overseen by New Zealand's first female venture capitalist. He further added that more recently working for H.E Mrs Reem Al Mansoori at MOTC has been a defining experience in his career development to date.” Both sessions were led by Jennifer OSullivan, Partner, International Tax and PwC Qatar’s Aysun Ozen Tacer, Consulting Director.
During the panels, Sheikha Alanoud bint Hamad Al-Thani commented: “Qatar has been progressively empowering women across the different spectrums of life, supporting their active engagement, economically, politically and socially.” Zyenep Yondem said: “When it comes to advancing your career, the key is having equal opportunities.” Abir Bougerra added: We should be focusing on building human-centric cultures at the workplace and looking at individuals from the lenses of what they can offer in terms of capabilities and capacities as humans and not within the constraints of their genders, because the change starts from the top.”
"International Women's Day serves as a much-needed opportunity to celebrate women in the local workforce, but perhaps more importantly, it's a chance for female leaders in the industry to share and pass their expertise and knowledge to others. Our diversity at PwC Qatar is a key success factor that continually transforms our business and we can bring innovation to not only our partners, but teams across the board. I believe this diversity and the ongoing collaboration to recognize equality within our team should be celebrated beyond International Women’s Day," said Bassam Hajhamad, PwC Qatar Country Senior Partner.
Commenting on the panel, Jennifer OSullivan said: “At PwC, we ensure that our teams are equipped with the necessary tools and resources in order for women to thrive in the workplace and beyond. This is something which we are passionate about and truly believe contributes directly to the success of businesses. While we have made significant progress in recent years, there is still much to be done to achieve gender equality.
We held this panel to spark the conversation that is needed to, not just raise awareness for the issue, but initiate the action to drive real change.”
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