From Russia With Love … and Girl Power: Anna Malinovskaya Represents Russia at G(irls)20 Summit in Toronto
"If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman" ~ Margaret Thatcher
If Margaret Thatcher’s words are anything to live by, women are clearly not being talked to enough. So what do women do? They throw together a summit to build a space where girls voices can be heard globally, all 3.3 billion of them. A group of teenage girls representing each of the G20 countries came to Toronto to do just that, ten days before the real-deal G20 meet-up …minus billion-dollar security and traffic disruptions. How ironic that 20 young, feeble girls would need less security than a bunch of powerful, grey-haired men.
But at the G(irls)20 summit, it is not about attendance, it is about participation. Without even showing up, anyone (whether male or female) can get their unique number on the G(irls)20 website and weigh in with the real solutions on the website’s forum page dubbed “The Change Room.” It is Day 3 of the summit, and already 615 suggestions from nearly 1,500 users have been filed.
G(irls)20 Summit - What is your number? Photo by Flickr user kimberly-lyn.
Anna Malinovskaya, a 2nd year international relations student from Khabarovsk, was chosen to represent Russia. She says she found out about the summit while browsing the web. Coincidentally, harnessing the power of the Internet was an important theme at this year's conference. The organizers of the G(irls)20 summit devoted an entire session to the use of digital media as an emancipation tool for women around the world, courtesy of the almighty Google.
Malinkovskaya has been paired up with 19 other girls from countries with very different economies, religions and histories. And, getting along would seem like a challenge.
“We almost don’t argue,” laughs Anna. “We have different visions, but we have a lot in common still.”
Supported by Canada’s Governor General, former minister Belinda Stronach, journalist Jennifer Hollett, Olympian Charmaine Crooks, and many other inspiring women, the G(irls)20 summit lays out the foundation of a global conversation about the economic prowess of girls and women.
One of the central tasks of the forum was to identify the greatest challenge facing girls and women today. I wanted to narrow down this question and ask Anna what she thought was the greatest challenge that Russian women in particular are facing.
“It is hard to single out one problem that Russian women have to deal with,” claims Malinkovskaya. “But I think women in Russia are not well represented in politics. There is not a single name people could recall when I asked them to name an influential female from Russia. And that is frustrating.”
Historically, a woman has never been elected to become Russia’s President. And although there are a lot of capable women in Russia who can probably handle the job of a President, the real question is whether Russia can handle a female leader.
“I don’t think Russia is ready for it now,” says Malinkovskaya. “But the potential and the ambition are definitely there.”
Surprisingly, Anna got a lot of interview requests from international press, but has yet to get one from the Russian media. She says the summit is not well publicized back in Russia.
I asked whether it was because a lot of people think negatively of global summits, dismissing them as a waste of time and money. Anna does not concur.
“I think any summit could be efficient or a total failure. It all depends on what the delegates bring to the table. If they seek to find common points of view to come up with solutions, then the summit has to work out.”
Just ask a woman.
June 21st, 2010 - 21:39
Hello Yuliya, now when the summit is over the communique is available at http://www.girlsandwomen.com/download/news-communique.pdf and on youtube you can find the videos of Q&A Session with Girls20 delegates regarding the communique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbDAqPx9jiw