DIVERSITY DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATE INTO INCLUSION: SARAH KNIBBS, UN WOMEN APAC

IF DEI IMPACT IS TO BE SUSTAINABLE, IT MUST GO BEYOND THE WORKPLACE AND INTO THE MARKETPLACE. AND THAT CALLS FOR A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING THAT HAVING A CERTAIN NUMBER OF WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IS JUST THE START. IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE MATTERS, SARAH KNIBBS, OFFICER-IN-CHARGE FOR UN WOMEN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC, TALKS ABOUT HOW TO STEP AWAY FROM TOKENISM AND INTO REAL CHANGE

- BHAVNA SARIN

Sarah Knibbs, the Officer-in-Charge for UN Women Asia and the Pacific, has been working in the Asia Pacific region for the last 25 years, focusing on gender, violence against women, HIV, youth issues, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Her remit has covered a range of organisations including UN Women, UNFPA, DFID China, Save the Children Fund, VSO and the Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA).

Sarah joined UN Women in 2014. She was initially based at Cambodia Country Office and moved to the UN Women Regional Office for Asia Pacific in June 2020 where she is the Deputy Regional Director. Hailing from the UK, she studied History at Oxford for her first degree, later taking an MSc in Development Management specialising in Population and Reproductive Health at the University of Wales Swansea.

In this exclusive interview, she spoke to People Matters about the key to sustainable DEI impact, the essentials to shaping transformative learning experiences and the role of men in enabling gender equity.

What are your top three DEI priorities for 2022?

DEI is a broad agenda, but in the context of gender equality and women’s empowerment, the priorities for this year include:

Promoting women in leadership positions: The Asia Pacific region has made progress in increasing women in leadership, but there is still a long way to go to reach parity. In ASEAN, women make up only 24% of middle and senior management positions and account for only 14.9% of board members.