'Eradicate cultural barriers to empower women'

Lagarde was speaking on the second day of the Women’s Forum 2013 held at Chatrium Hotel in Yangon.

“The cultural barrier that is in people’s minds – you have demonstrated, by speaking up, taking the floor, speaking out about your journey in life that that barrier can be shaken or moved,” said the IMF chief.

In Myanmar, key factors such as equal access to education and to credit, including micro-credit, are needed to shift cultural stereotypes about gender, she said.

In a rare disclosure of her personal career choices and dilemmas, the Lagarde confided that her experiences had shaken her initial confidence in a gender-equal world. 

But they had also encouraged her to take an unusually firm stand on affirmative action and quotas for women. 

“When I joined my law firm … as a lawyer, I was inspired by the role model of the managing partner of my Paris-based firm who was a woman,” she said. “And I genuinely thought that quotas were unnecessary – that there was no reason why there should be particular rules and regulations to protect women.

“It’s not just about Myanmar, it’s not just about Asia, it’s the world over,” she continued. “My sense is that quotas actually help to reduce that step that women have to take or at least be given the opportunity to take. And because they have generally been so frustrated, once they are given access, then they work so hard. They want to learn, they want work, they want to be able to express their talent.” 

Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Myat Myat Ohn Khin called for more participation to develop women’s equality in the Southeast Asian country.

“The forum reminds us to make further strategies to promote and protect the rights of women in our society, regardless of ethnic groups, religious, social, and economic conditions,” she said during her closing address to the two-day conference. 

Myanmar is progressively implementing gender equality and women’s rights throughout the country, she added.

The government has recently approved the National Strategic Plan for Advancement of Woman, which was developed by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.