Key Note Speech

Women’s Role in Social Enterprise

Honorable Minister Kumari Selja, Founder Trustee of WIC and Union Minister for Tourism and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, The Leaders of Sree Shakti, Ladies and Gentlemen –

Assalamulaikum, Namaste and Good Morning!

I am honored to be with you today, as a Bangladeshi woman, speaking on behalf of over 700 million of my South Asian sisters. I would like to express my gratitude to Sree Shakti and all of you here today for coming together to recognize women’s role in nation building.

As a woman Social Entrepreneur, I have been asked to share with you my thoughts on Women’s role in Social Enterprises – entities that are changing and impacting the social and environmental canvass of South Asia and the rest of the world. If we are going to talk about Women’s role in Social Enterprise, we then need to talk about Women’s position in a society and about the role of social enterprises and entrepreneurship in that society.

Therefore, what I hope to do this morning is to briefly discuss the role of women in social enterprise, to touch on the role and importance of women’s entrepreneurship and to put it all in perspective with my own story.

I am in a unique position to be standing in front of you today to discuss today’s topic. I am the youngest of four daughters of a Muslim family. After I was born, my mother had to bear the shame of giving birth to a fourth daughter. My father was encouraged to marry again. My mother eventually recovered from the depression of giving birth to me, and my father did not remarry. Instead, they put their parental energy into our education. Although we had our social boundaries, nevertheless, we four girls became a doctor, a teacher, a development worker, and an entrepreneur.

My entrepreneurial spirit has never been based on a desire to make lots of money but on a desire to fight social injustice. Whatever the source of ones entrepreneurial spirit, it propels a person – especially a woman – to new heights of innovation and opportunity. Thus, I hope you will all go away from the talk today and do your part – whether nurturing your own entrepreneurial spirit or encouraging another woman entrepreneur in your own way – both because they truly hold the key to the success of the next generation and to make each of our countries a better place.

I was fortunate to have a career that spanned the full spectrum of private to public sector. I began my career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley in New York. I was young and excited about being at the heart of the capital markets that made the financial system of this world work. However, when I arrived what struck me was what a small role women played in influencing and defining the capital markets of the world. During those days, in the entire staff of Morgan Stanley (which was then several thousand), there were less than 30 women bankers. And I have to say, from my Wall Street experience, I have to agree with the recent observations that some have made that the financial meltdown of the last 12 months could have been avoided if the large financial institutions were run by women.

I left Morgan Stanley to join Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Similar to Morgan Stanley, Grameen offices in both the city and the villages were staffed largely with men. The difference was that almost all of the clients (at that point, around 2 lakh) were women. The women were clients not because anyone was doing them a favor but because they were better clients – they had better repayment rates than their male counterparts and they shared their income with their families. During that time, I was fortunate to meet thousands of these incredible women entrepreneurs who were fueling the engine of the rural economy and at the same time building Grameen into one of the most incredible success stories of social enterprise.

I was humbled and impressed by the women entrepreneurs I met in the villages. Because the system did not work for them, they were forced to innovate to survive in the system. More than 80% of the women I met while at Grameen were illiterate, and yet they were smart enough to figure out complicated concepts such as interest rate arbitrage (where at time some were becoming lenders themselves) and innovative management practices – like the woman who had her husband marry three more times and then hired those other wives into her growing weaving business.

These women neither saw themselves as heroines nor as hand-out cases – but simply as human beings who at last had the opportunity to stand on their own feet. And, every single woman I met, as soon as they saved some money they sent their children to school. And, every single one of these women told me that they did not want their daughters to have the same life as theirs.

Today, microfinance all over the world is one of the sexiest ‘asset classes’ and has become an essential fuel of the economy in many developing countries. I meet investment bankers who talk about the high financial returns of the MFIs and are creating sophisticated financial instruments around the MFIs. Sadly, I have not met a single banker who for a second talks about these millions of women across the globe who are fueling the MFIs and playing their role in nation building.

What are we doing for these women other than giving them small loans? Sadly, the answer is “not much.” And yet, we are creating and fueling fancy financial institutions on their back.

A recent article in the The Economist magazine said, ‘forget China, India and the Internet. Economic growth is driven by women.’ The article goes on to say that an increase in women’s employment, in both the developing and developed world, has been the biggest engine of global growth in recent decades.

And, as I have seen with my own eyes, experts are also pointing to the clear evidence that helping women to develop their skills and join the labor market boosts incomes and the well-being of society as a whole. It is now an established fact that educating girls boosts prosperity. The multiplier effect of that is – more productivity, income generation, healthier and better educated children – thus raising the welfare of the entire family and in turn nation.

Sadly, despite all this evidence, women remain perhaps the world’s most underutilized and under-recognized resource. Equal opportunity in the economic sphere is not a reality, and its absence is a drag on growth, development and poverty alleviation.

Globally, women are most heavily represented in micro and small businesses. That is not a surprise. This is due to legal, social and cultural forces which guide and in some way constrain their business decisions.

What do the women themselves perceive as their biggest obstacle? In Bangladeshi villages when I asked this question, the answer was access to capital, education, culture and support system. When this question was asked in the US, the answers were very similar, and to the list above the American women added trade, affordable health care, taxes, government policies, and media exposure.

Interestingly, if you look at these issues, they are concerns about accessing the capital and markets needed to grow profitable and sustainable business. And, they are about securing essential social protection. These concerns are common to all entrepreneurs in many countries, whether men or women. These are small business issues, not particularly women’s issues. However, because most representation in these small and micro businesses is from women, they become women’s issue. And women’s entrepreneurship needs special recognition because it constitutes an important untapped source of economic growth and societal wellbeing.

One group of entities which is trying to assist, among others, the disadvantaged, women and small businesses are Social Enterprises. Thousands of Social Enterprises (which can be defined as Social mission-oriented for-profit companies OR business-oriented non-profit entities) across the globe are working relentlessly to bring better livelihood, education, healthcare, sanitation and income opportunities to the poor and make this world a more equitable place. However, many of these entities struggle themselves to get sufficient capital and recognition for the work they are doing.

In response to this need, and to support these Social Enterprises and assist them in growing their impact, I founded Impact Investment Exchange, a social stock exchange for social enterprises in Asia. I was audacious enough to think that we can make investors care about more than just a financial return for their investment. And we did. I have been receiving resounding support from the financial sector and the public in creating this exchange, which will in essence assist social enterprises to increase their social impact and in effect assist millions of women and disadvantaged across the globe.

So, what is IIX? IIX will be Asia’s first social stock exchange, providing a trading platform and an efficient capital raising mechanism for Asian Social Enterprises (SEs), including both for-profit and not-for-profit entities with a social mission. IIX will connect these SEs with Impact Investors seeking to achieve both a social return and an economic return on their investment while providing capital to fund innovative social businesses.

In Asia (especially in South Asia) we face the gravest of the world’s challenges covering a whole spectrum of issues, including women’s empowerment, poverty alleviation, and environmental protection. It is SEs like Grameen Bank, BRAC, SEWA, BWDA, and Selco that are playing a leading role in confronting these challenges.

What can we do to assist them? What can we do to help them expand their impact? The answer is simple: to provide access to capital. Just as microcredit has given access to millions of individuals and given them an opportunity to create a new life, IIX will give access to capital to the SEs that assist millions. These SEs will be judged for the social and financial sustainability that they attain and they will help us broaden the definition of a ‘successful enterprise’.

We need many social enterprises, impact investment exchanges, private sector initiatives and public sector support to listen to the voices of women entrepreneurs. Gender specific constraints to entrepreneurship require well-supported specific policy responses.

These responses need to be financial, political and most importantly practical. Women need targeted training in how to start, manage, and grow businesses. Just as they need the entities like social enterprises to give them the structure to grow and sustain their businesses. Women and these social enterprises must lend their voices to efforts to identify and address laws and policies that do not adequately address their needs.

Now why is all this relevant to you? It is because you each have an important role to play in bringing about this positive social change.

As Ghandiji said, "We must be the change we wish to see”. If we want our nations to develop, if we want our children to be educated, if we want our environment to be clean, we will need to leverage the vast capabilities of the women in our society. Women in the audience: you have the power to change the world for the better…each in your own way -- as an entrepreneur, or a social entrepreneur; as a government policy maker, or one who influences government policy; as a leader and as an example. Everyone in the audience: we each need to support the women in our society; and, we need to support the entities that support these women…Women are the key to the future.

There is a saying that women must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, that is not so difficult. Just give us the chance, and we will show you what an incredible force we are.

Thank you for your attention, and thank you for supporting a just society, with opportunities for all men and all women.

Invitation

International Women's Centre
&
Stree Shakti-The Parallel Force

Invite you to the Luncheon Reception
&
Annual Stree Shakti Awards

Guest of Honour
Prof Durreen Shahnaz
Head, Social Innovation Programme, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore
Founder and Chairman, Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX)

Winner of Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman
Madhavi Mudgal
Eminent Dancer

Winner of Stree Shakti Science Samman
Prof Rupamanjari Ghosh
Eminent Scientist

Book Release II Edition of A Quest for Roots By

Hon’ble Minister of Tourism Kumari Selja

on December 12, 2009

Time: 12 Noon

at

3 Suneheri Bagh Road
New Delhi 110011








streeshaktik@gmail.com

intwomencentre@gmail.com

Recognition of IIX work

I had quite a surreal evening last night. I found out that I was nominated for 2 prestigious fellow positions:

1. Asia Society Asia 21 Fellow (the next step to young leader recognition I received couple of months ago) where 25 fellows are chosen from Asia and the US as lifelong policy makers for Asia Society.

2. TED 2010 Fellow: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ted-announces-recipients-of-next-25-ted-fellowships-79216142.html

This is truly humbling and overwhelming. I hope I can use these opportunities to further expand the work of incredible Social Enterprises and Impact Investment Exchange.

News Clipping on IIX

Here is first media exposure for Impact Investment Exchange -- first of many hopefully -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi40Ky9IOQw

My Bio

I have been asked by many about my bio and my website (?). Given that I already have so many communication points, I think having my own website is overkill. So, here is my bio on my blog --

Durreen Shahnaz is Head of the Programme on Social Innovation and Change and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) at the National University of Singapore.

Prof Shahnaz has been a change maker throughout her career which has spanned both the social and private sector. As a successful social entrepreneur, Prof Shahnaz founded, ran and sold oneNest, a New York-based social purpose business which operated a marketplace for products produced by microfinance, micro enterprises and artisan groups from all over the world. Recently Prof Shahnaz founded Impact Investment Exchange Asia, a social stock exchange which will allow Asian social enterprises to raise growth capital.

Prof Shahnaz began her career in the social sector at Grameen Bank (Bangladesh) where she played a critical role in the bank’s first major capital raising exercise. At World Bank (Washington, D.C.) Prof Shahnaz evaluated non performing loan portfolios for the East Africa Department and at International Finance Corporation she assisted in selling Ashanti, the largest gold mine in the world for the Ghanian government.

In the private sector, Prof Shahnaz worked as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley (New York) before moving to the media sector. As the head of three regional media companies (Asia City Publishing Group, Hearst Magazines International and Reader’s Digest Asia), Prof Shahnaz worked vigorously to incorporate social responsibility in these companies’ work.

Prof Shahnaz holds a BA from Smith College (double major in Economics and Government); and a joint graduate degree -- MBA from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (Finance) and MA from School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (International Economics and International Relations). Recently Prof Shahnaz was nominated as one of the Young Leaders of Asia by Asia Society.

Impact Investment Exchange

Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX) website is up -- www.asiaiix.com

This is the beginning of a movement in social capital markets. This is indeed an exciting moment in history --

Asia Society Young Leader

Just found out that I got nominated as a 'Asia Society Young Leader'. At the ripe age of 41 to be called 'young' is flattering but really nothing more than that. I am really more curious than anything else about the whole thing. I stayed out the range of the 'world media' all these years and wonder if that helped or hurt me. Case in point, could Yunus have received the global adulation if he was not a constant on the media circuit? Interesting debating point. However, there is an issue of legitimacy. With information coming out from every direction, people need 'filters' or legitmization more than before that is why high profile entities (e.g. Asia Society, Skoll, Ashoka) have become even more important in 'vetting' ideas and people. So, a lot of 'real people' and 'real work' are being ignored -- sad.

Holding the Purse Strings

Indie is one of my good friends in Singapore with whom I can sit and have those wonderful "Bengali adda" moments. Every few months, over a cup of "deshi cha" we philosophise about life, the world, and -- in true Bengali fashion -- criticise almost everything under the sun.

It was on one of those evenings, after a lazy dinner, while having cha, of course, we were trying to "talk" our way into fixing most of the world problems. All of a sudden, Indie blurted out that she had told her daughter that one profession never to even think about is investment banking -- "those evil bankers."

Having spent a portion of my career as an investment banker, my defenses came into gear. Yes, some bankers are to be blamed for today's problems, but the world does still needs bankers, just as it needs doctors and lawyers. Maybe the world would be a better place today if there were not less bankers but rather more bankers with heart; and even a better place with more women bankers with a heart and a soul. Remember, I was one. I can attest to it.

It was exactly 20 years ago that I was woken up from a late morning sleep by a telephone call from Morgan Stanley. A senior banker called to congratulate me and to offer me a job as a financial analyst in their corporate finance department in New York. I was ecstatic. In those days, getting an offer from Morgan Stanley truly marked one as a "chosen one." Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were two of the most prestigious investment banks in the Street. They interviewed tens of thousands of students from around the globe and selected only 60 to join their Financial Analyst Program (a two year program to get into the management track of the company.) I was one of those 60.

Thus, my career as an investment banker began. I was a 21-year old, armed with an undergraduate degree from a prestigious liberal arts college in New England and a passion to change the world. How would Morgan Stanley help me change the world? I did not know, but what I did know was that as a Bangladeshi woman (the first one in the bank's history I was told), I was getting an incredible opportunity to work with some of the smartest people in the world who were shaping the global financial markets (or making a mess out of them -- whichever you prefer.) Working in a prestigious white-shoe bank, I hoped I would learn the Midas touch of efficient financial markets that I could bring back to my country. Of course in the process, I could also save a little money to go to graduate school -- that was the added bonus.

That summer between graduation and the start of my new job, I was filled with anticipation. Liar's Poker (by a former bond salesman about his experience working on Wall Street) had just come out and was a bestseller. While driving around California with my dear friend Sunita, I read it and everything else I could get my hands on about the new world I would be entering. After all, I had to be prepared -- I would be working with the creme de la creme of the academic institutions. I knew a lot of them would be difficult (jerks, to put it bluntly), but I would survive and thrive. I would be representing my country, my race, and my gender. I had the weight of many people's expectations on my shoulders. Well, if nothing else, I was naïve.

The first day of work was a day-long orientation session. I, of course, overslept. I got up in a


Photo: Amirul Rajiv
panic, could not get a taxi, missed my turn getting in the crowded subways, and eventually walked into the big orientation hall half an hour late, while Dick Fisher, president of Morgan Stanley, was touting the virtues and discipline of banking. Thus, my fist day got started with some rude stares and shaking of heads. The only redeeming factor of the day was that, in the process of being late -- all sweaty and stressed out -- I met my future husband in the elevator, all calm and collected. It was not really love at first sight, but more shared misery at first glance. Anyway, given that this is supposed to be an article about my professional life, I will skip the romance for now.

Looking back on that first day, I don't remember much else except the advice one of the directors gave in his speech. He told us that Morgan Stanley was an intense place, and that a lot will be demanded from us. Consequently, he continued, there will be many moments when we will want to burst into tears. And, when that happens, "go to the toilet, flush it and cry; because frankly nobody wants to deal with a crybaby." I thought the man was insane. Well, sadly, that turned out to be one of the sanest suggestions I took away from that day, as I put it to good use more times than I would like to remember over the course of the next two years.

Despite the tears, in general, my time at Morgan Stanley was intellectually stimulating, and it taught me what I had hoped to learn -- how to be a banker. I learned accounting, finance, and the intricacies of capital markets. I also learned what terrible management styles and awful personal lives most bankers had, and how I never wanted to be one of them when I grew up. It was a badge of honour within the Financial Analyst team to work 100-hour weeks and to count how many all-nighters one pulled. The small handful of women in the bank were told that we had to keep up with the "machismo" of the environment if we wanted to "make it."

It was eye opening to see what the top bankers could get away with if they brought in lucrative deals. I recall one banker who had his phone replaced virtually every week because -- out of rage -- he would regularly throw them against the wall. I also remember brilliant minds like Vikram Pandit (yes, the same one now running Citibank) who could be rude and condescending but who could also solve any problem I might have regarding even the most complicated equity issuance.

I could write volumes about my time at Morgan Stanley, and maybe one day I should. For now, I have to borrow Dickens' words and sum it up as: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity."

Investment banking truly brings out the best and worst in people. One is pushed to the limit of intelligence, creativity, endurance, and at the same time raw competitiveness. Sports metaphors were a part of nearly every conversation. It was basically a testosterone-driven environment where "sink or swim" was practiced and honoured as a law of the jungle. All this was exacerbated because there were so few women around to bring a different sensibility in the picture.


Mcmillan
A recent survey found that nearly two-thirds of women employed in London's financial markets believe their gender makes it harder for them to succeed. The machismo of the environment makes it difficult for women to climb the banking ladder, and even if they do, there is definitely a glass ceiling that they cannot go beyond.

Perhaps if more women would stay in this industry, change the macho politics and bring a different sensibility to it, we would not be in the financial mess we are in today. In recent World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, there was a pretty broad consensus among the participants that if Wall Street had been run by women they would have saved the world from the corrosive gambling culture that dominated many a trading room.

While I did not stay on in Wall Street and fulfill my duty of making the Street a kinder and gentler place (I will leave that to the next generation of women bankers), I did use my banking skills to the fullest in my subsequent careers. I used my financial modeling skills to create growth models at Grameen Bank, my business forecasting acumen at the publishing companies I ran, and my deep financial know-how in starting my own company.

Now my career is coming full circle as I am putting in place the first Social Stock Exchange of Asia. I am making use of what I have learned in the last 20 years of a career that has spanned the social sector, media, academia, and most importantly, banking to create perhaps one of the most important financial platforms for Asia (or the world, for that matter.)

I could not have done this if I had not started my career on Wall Street. Those tears shed in the toilet stall will now help raise money to build toilets for hundreds and thousands of people without proper sanitation in Asia. As a woman, it feels especially good because I not only survived the Street but I am using it to help me change the world. Hats off to all the women bankers -- the world needs us.

Durreen Shahnaz is the Founder and Chairman of Social Stock Exchange Asia and Head, Program on Social Innovation and Change at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

Published in Forum Magazine, May 4, 2009

Creating Social Stock Exchange Asia

My phone beeps. I forgot to put my mobile phone in silent mode. I am thoroughly embarrassed because I am sitting in the first of hopefully many important meetings with the officials of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. We are discussing the merits of situating a Social Stock Exchange in Singapore. I cannot resist -- I look at my phone under the table and see that the text message is from the company registration board telling me that the registration of Social Stock Exchange Asia (SSXA) has been approved.

I am ecstatic. I have been on pins and needles because the registration took several weeks to process (as opposed to the 24 hours it usually takes to register a company in Singapore). I had worried that this was because the only other exchange in the country is the Singapore Stock Exchange, partly owned by the government. Needless to say, even the mere registration of SSXA had the potential to raise a few eyebrows.

Raised eyebrows aside, the fact remains that on March 20, 2009 SSXA was created to provide a capital market for social good. This indeed is the start of a new era and an apt response to the financial greed that gripped most parts of the developed world for the past several decades. The best part is that SSXA has the potential to be the sensible Asian response to the Western mayhem and bring social consciousness to the forefront of global financial markets.

Creating a Social Stock Exchange is indeed a lofty goal, but I cannot aim at anything less lofty. Exactly ten years ago, I created my first social purpose company, oneNest. It was an idea that germinated from my time at Grameen Bank when I saw many micro-entrepreneurs struggling due to a lack of market access for their products. These entrepreneurs needed more than access to credit, they needed help managing the supply chain. Grameen Bank ultimately recognised this and eventually responded by creating Grameen Check and Grameen Shamogri.

A few years later when the twists and turns of life gave me the opportunity to start a company, I reached back to my Grameen days and created a marketplace where I brought together, on the one hand, thousands of microcredit borrowers and cooperatives creating beautiful handmade personal and household products with, on the other hand, luxury catalogue companies, boutiques and department stores in the Western market. I ran and grew oneNest and eventually sold it (granted I had a very little control of the company by the end -- but that is another story). However the thought always nagged me that I could not do enough for the disadvantaged millions of the world. I had to do more. Now is my second chance.

What will SSXA do? Simply put, it will increase access to capital for enterprises with a social mission. On a bigger scale, it will help social enterprises further develop the professionalism of their operations and create a whole ecosystem around them to support social enterprises -- some of which are already in the works. SSXA will be the Asia's first social stock exchange, providing a trading platform and an efficient capital raising mechanism for Asian Social Enterprises (SEs), including both for-profit and not-for-profit entities with a social mission. SSXA will connect these SEs with impact investors seeking to achieve both a social return and an economic return on their investment while providing capital to fund innovative social businesses. This platform will also enable philanthropic donations.

Such an exchange will bring all the relevant players in the ecosystem together, speaking the same language and assisting one another in creating greater social good. It will encourage the governments, civil societies, academics, investment banks, research companies, auditing bodies and social enterprises to agree on a framework to measure social value, common terminology, transparency, and social and financial goals.

Social enterprises seeking to list shares or bonds on the exchange will go through proper social and financial auditing (third party validation) and report regularly to investors on both their social and financial results. Investors purchasing shares and bonds on the exchange will be attracted by the transparent disclosure of social returns and will evaluate companies based on both their social and financial returns. They will understand that a social enterprise may not maximise its earnings due to the cost associated with fulfilling its social mission. And they will be willing to accept a limited financial return in order to support this mission. Of course, given the current dismal state of the market for profit-maximising businesses, any economic return topped with a social return may feel like a windfall to an investor.

Social investors are an emerging group of investors in the financial market. In Europe, and especially in the UK, they are a rapidly growing group, which initially focused on Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) but now includes many investors focused on investing in social enterprises and social purpose businesses. These investors comprise of private investors, high net worth individuals, family offices, investment funds and charitable foundations with the common thread being that they seek double bottom-line returns (i.e. social and financial returns) from their investments. Given the current financial climate, more and more charities are leaning towards 'mission-related investment' as well. In the UK alone, there are now over 25 billion pounds dedicated to socially responsible investment.

In Asia the social investor pool is smaller, but growing. Bodies such as UNPRI (United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing) and ASRIA (Association for Socially Responsible Investing in Asia) are actively promoting the notion of socially responsible investing. A number of family offices and wealthy individuals in Asia are also focused on social investment. Much of the interest so far has been focused on microfinance institutions. In addition, Islamic banking has been very active in Southeast Asia in promoting its unique brand of responsible investing. SSXA will push the envelope on the existing socially responsible investing, bring forward social enterprises and social purposes companies (in addition to microfinance) in energy, water/sanitation, media, fair-trade, health, education, and cottage industry and bring to the attention of these investors a whole new set of enterprises that would not have been noticed otherwise.

Such a platform or exchange cannot be created overnight. It will take years before SSXA is a robust trading platform. However, with the proper assistance and support from other members of the social investing ecosystem, it can become the cornerstone of a potentially very large social enterprise economy. Given the current economic climate, I have to say, organisations and government bodies are ready to pause and listen. I thank them for that. As more players embrace the idea of SSXA, each will become a crucial part of a peaceful revolution in the making.



The author is founder of Social Stock Exchange Asia and head of Programme on Social Innovation and Change at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

THis article was published in Daily Star, April 22, 2009

Social Stock Exchange Asia

Social Stock Exchange Asia just got registerd as a company in Asia. I have started my second social enterprise exactly ten years after the first one. The mission is to create capital markets for social good. Let us see where this leads to. With the financial meltdown, the timing cannot be more perfect...

Witnessing a Movement

Like many Bangladeshis living overseas, I was energised by the US election, which produced a remarkable president and, as importantly, mobilised the young and old like no other political event in recent history.

Was it possible for such an election to occur in Bangladesh? I was sceptical. But, I flew to Bangladesh with hopes of being a part of history in the making. Thankfully, my scepticism was proven wrong. What I experienced was far beyond my fondest imagination.

On returning home and embarking on election work, I not only witnessed a remarkably orderly election process, but also had the feeling that it was just the most recent manifestation of a movement that is gripping the nation. I witnessed that the citizens cared about the election and wanted to make a difference through their votes.

Like my fellow citizens, I got swept into the wave of optimism and felt that anything was possible. Only when I stepped out of this wave did I realise that what I had experienced was a movement, a powerful movement that none of our political parties could have imagined gripping the nation after years of political, social and economic abuse of the people.

While I was basking in the warm glow from the excitement of the election process, I had another reason to feel good as I saw that the new cabinet would contain four women ministers. For the first time, our politicians realised that we needed women more than just as figureheads of the political parties.

Dr. Dipu Moni, whom I had the chance to meet a few weeks ago on the campaign trail, is the new foreign minister. My “chance meeting” with Dr. Moni took place in Chandpur at a Mukho Mukhi program organised by Shujon (Shushashoner Jonnyo Nagorik). This and many other Shujon programs gave me opportunities to meet the candidates.

As a proud participant in Shujon's democratic process, I sent Dr. Moni a congratulatory text message. Just think about thisI, an ordinary citizen, had the chance to actually speak with a potentially powerful candidate and then text her. If this is not a sign of a powerful new movement, I don't know what is.

There were a number of organisations that can take credit for bringing this new voice to the people. The social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations played their role in uplifting and empowering Bangladeshis over the past several decades. In this election, however, this empowerment was put to practice by entities like Shujon. Shujon collected information on all 1500+ candidates and organised over 80 Mukho Mukhi programs.

As a witness to the process, I can definitely say that Shujon's process of disseminating information and publicising its message of electing the “clean and right candidates” influenced many thousands of voters. My congratulations and gratitude to the more than a hundred thousand volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this process possible.

While the Americans celebrate the beginning of a successful grassroots movement initiated by a charismatic leader, we need to celebrate Bangladesh's successful grassroots movement initiated by its citizens. There was no one leader or party that mobilised the citizens. It was the people themselves.

Platforms like Mukho Mukhi allowed the people to speak up. In gatherings of several thousand people, women got up and asked the candidates what they would do for women, young people asked about job opportunities, and young/old all asked how clean the candidates would be. They were making clear to the candidates that they must serve the people.

This fire of citizen movement that has been ignited needs to be nurtured and developed. If not dealt with carefully, such a fire can become uncontrollable or die. The winning party not only has to live up to its election mandates but also has to listen to the millions of voices across the nation. In the US, President Obama's team is keeping the fire of his movement burning by creating “Organizing America.” We need to do the same.

Shujon, along with similar organisations, will continue to push along the democratic system by promoting: accountalibility of the elected officials; decentralised governance; grassroot participation in democracy; women's, children's and minority rights; youth involvement; and self reliance. However, all political parties need to become a part of this process.

The new government needs to work with community leaders to empower the citizens and mobilise them for good governance, social justice, clean politics and correct policies. It should with start communicating with the people.

Perhaps our leaders can take a page from the Obama book and keep the line of communication open with the people. Dr. Moni, I am looking forward to your response to my text to you!



Durreen Shahnaz is the Head of the Social Innovation Program and Adj Assoc Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

This article was published on The Daily Star on January 23, 2009