Madi Sharma who will be in Malta tomorrow to give the keynote address at the Women on Board event at Europe House in Valletta says that Malta's men have put Malta squarely at the bottom of the European table when it comes to gender equality in the boardroom.

Mrs Sharma has written many opinions for the European Economic and Social Committee on issues surrounding women and is an international speaker and freelance journalist on the subject. She is an entrepreneur with private sector businesses and NGOs in different parts of the world.

Mrs Sharma say: "The business case clearly shows that Women on Boards bring a higher return on investment and an increased share price. Hence, this is not a gender debate, nor about quotas or tokenism but this is about good economics with good transparent business practice.” Mrs Sharma is the UK member of the European Economic and Social Committee and will be speaking at Europe House in Valletta to explain why gender equality in Malta is a prerequisite to the country's success and growth.

Across Europe there is increasing debate on gender equity in decision-making, much of this stimulated by the forthcoming Directive from the European Commission vice-president Vivianne Redding on Women on Boards. However, before starting the debate in depth in Malta it is essential to remove the myths and rumours that have been circulating the debating tables.

The first major misconception is that the new Directive and any other moves for equality in decision-making are based on quotas. The word quota does not appear anywhere in the proposed EU Directive, which will be based on “merit and preference”. This means that only in the situation of a man and woman being of equal qualifications, applying for a position as a non-executive director on a publically listed company board, will the female receive preference. In all other cases, the most highly qualified of the two will receive the position. 

The Directive only sets out a 40% targeted objective and mechanisms to ensure transparency of recruitment in a bid to remove current discrimination against qualified women. 

"The other big myth," says Mrs Sharma, "is that if we give the ‘natural cycle’ time, women will automatically receive equality. This debate is sadly now centuries old and we see little change in the equality stakes, despite the fact that women are now more highly qualified than men. The gender pay gap, pension’s gap and access to rights are all in favour of the male gender. Most distressing is that many reproductive rights of women are still decided upon by men. European statistics and complex analysis clearly show that left to their own devices, we would be into the next century before the natural cycle took its course."

And why is this so important to Malta? Because Malta, as one of the 28 member states of the European Union, which has been built on a foundation of equality and human rights, sits at the bottom of the EU table for gender balance.

The final myth is that this is a “woman’s issue”. Mrs Sharma says: "Actually, it’s quite the opposite. We will not have any change unless we get men around the table to participate in the debate. This is not a debate about women verses men. This is not a request for preferential treatment or privileges. This is about a need for women and men to be treated equally while admitting we are different. This is about the social and economic benefits, and ultimately environmental and cultural benefits, which result from increased equality."

Women on Board is being organised by the National Council for Women together with the European Parliament Information Office and in association with the Institute of Directors Malta Branch and the Malta Institute for Management and will be held at Europe House in Valletta tomorrow, 13 September.