For all women and girls, rights, equality and empowerment - Intervention at IDD2025, at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts (Benin)

JIF 2025 au MTCA Bénin - 14 mars 2025

Although every word is important in this theme, I will focus on the word empowerment for my reflection, as the subject is so complex.

The notion of autonomy is concrete and suggests a state or status of independence of individuals or legal entities, communities and even nations. Independence therefore means not depending on anyone . And empowerment is the process that leads to this state of independence. But what independence are we talking about for women and girls? What is this autonomy made of? In what way is it a fundamental element missing from the cohesion of our societies and their full societal, economic and even spiritual development?

I am Nathalie Daouda, an expert in development strategies and author of Sustainable Capitalism, which addresses these issues.

Autonomy would have 5 forms: physical , psychological , economic , social and legal .

An infant is entirely dependent on their parents or caregivers for their basic needs. Their first experience of empowerment will be physical… with learning mobility . I say empowerment because the process is gradual.

While this physical and physiological development is completely natural and desirable for the child and their family, it presents constraints, particularly in terms of the child's safety and... comfort for their caregivers. Yes indeed!!! While we are so happy to be able to move around alone and explore the world, our little ones are still completely unaware of its dangers and the mental, physical and economic burden that this autonomy represents for the people responsible for him or her.

The attitude of the immediate and daily environment of this child will shape its psychology , but always according to its deep nature ! I am talking here about stimulation and conditioning to obedience and submission or on the contrary, to exploration and freedom . But it can also be a clever mix of all of this!

In any case, education , the value system and the models to which the child is exposed will stimulate or discourage his or her desire for independence and install in him or her more or less powerful cognitive filters .

With age, economic conditioning elements will be added to the range of environmental factors, and will shape the young person's posture. These are the economic constraints or facilities to which the child will have been exposed while growing up. The relationship of its guardians to money and to elements of consumption will build a person more or less agile in its relationship to material things and to the consumer society, as well as to fashions and social trends .

As a child becomes an adult, he or she will have a relationship with material things and money, according to the dominant model to which he or she would have been exposed to by his or her guardians, combined with his or her own personality. The Berber thinker Abderrahmane Ibn Muhammad Ibn Khaldoun (1332-1405) wrote : "Difficult times create strong men. Strong men create periods of peace. Periods of peace create weak men. Weak men create difficult times."

I leave us to ponder that.

Generally speaking, throughout life and from early childhood, we benefit from universal fundamental rights , which are the right to life and the right to security . This security concerns at least our physical integrity and free access to endogenous resources for food , shelter , clothing , movement and healthcare . Spiritual freedom is also a fundamental right that structures people. I do not know if all this falls under justice in the Western sense of the term, with laws and decrees. These rights are intrinsic to humanity, and any attack on them is a direct attack on life itself.

When it comes to children, all of these essential rights are entrusted by nature to their guardians as those responsible and protectors. If these guardians fail, or are weakened in ensuring these basic conditions , the responsibility goes back to the guardians of the community, then to the guardians of the nation, etc.

How then can we ensure that we, as guardians, whatever our position in the national socio-economic chain, are responsible for and protect the essential rights of the people in our care? How can we ensure that we are, for them, guides and educators, leading them towards the full and responsible enjoyment of their fundamental rights. And later, that they know how to embody and transmit these values to future generations?

First of all, it seems to me that we must know who we are and understand our mission. "Know yourself and you will know the Universe and the Gods," said Socrates.

I am Houédotin, from the Minhounou community, daughter and granddaughter of Adikpeto, Adjounou vovo! I am the wife and daughter-in-law of Daouda from the Taousset community, Poulla! And I am the mother of Mougnal. All this represents enormous responsibilities that oblige me to be respectful of my ancestors , dignified , resilient , exemplary and efficient in all circumstances, every day, tirelessly. And you, who are you? What does this imply in your daily life in terms of physical, psychological, economic and social responsibilities ? Are you up to your responsibility ? Do you understand its implications , its subtleties , its interdependencies ?

A person anchored in its life , in its community , in its spirituality , will stand like a tree with deep roots and outstretched, leafy, green branches, laden with generous, nourishing fruits, which diffuse a protective shadow towards the ground.

Such a parent, man or woman, will ensure that their children, girls or boys, are educated in knowledge , in values as deep as the roots of the baobab, and in the know-how to be allowing the preservation of the complementarity necessary for harmony between people and nature within the community.

In a community, the notions of independence and autonomy become difficult to define, as we need each other so much, due to our very fragility as living beings . For children this seems obvious, but for adults, everything in globalized society pushes us to believe that we don't need anyone to achieve our goals. All we need is money!

Money buys the things and services we need for our daily lives. However, having money doesn't make us independent; it simply allows us to obtain conditions according to our financial capacity. We still depend on third parties to obtain these products and services.

We get this money because we exchange it for our energy , our time , and our abilities . This still does not make us self-sufficient. If we cannot make this exchange, and especially if it is the result of some kind of coercion , then we are entering into the deprivation of our fundamental right to security according to the criteria set out above.

If this situation is self-induced, it is up to everyone to take responsibility. If the impediment is external, in this case, it is the guards who must first be called to account for their failure. And then, we must act without sparing any force in order to restore the essential conditions of security for people. All situations of deprivation of these rights due to physical, psychological, economic, social or legal pressure must be combated with all available energy.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that 5 major dysfunctions in the behavior of the guards led to the need for this International Women's Rights Day and all the fights against inequalities in general:

1. The chronic lack of bravery and irresponsibility in simple everyday matters have contributed to creating a critical number of people who are physically, psychologically, economically and socially weak.

2. Chronic ignorance of oneself, one's environment, and the world in general has produced a critical mass of narrow-minded, indoctrinated, superstitious people who are physically and psychologically abusive (I invite you to read Machiavelli and his principles on mass manipulation)

3. Chronic laziness has become entrenched in our society through the dissemination of unproductive social icons and the promotion of pleasure and immediate gratification as a modern way of life.

4. The popularization of brutality as a mode of expression of masculinity/virility, whether verbal, physical or sexual (Hyperviolence, Alpha Men or Women)

5. The systematic and unnatural opposition of men and women in a pseudo war of supremacy of one gender over the other, even though the perpetuation of all living things depends on a fruitful complementarity between masculine and feminine principles.

There is no doubt in my mind that tomorrow will be better for all women and girls, men and boys. As soon as we come to our senses and agree to collectively protect our fundamental essential rights, in full awareness and responsibility, all will be for the best in the best of all possible worlds (Candide by Voltaire). Rights will then become foundations again, equality will become complementarity again, and empowerment will become basic education again.