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Move ahead of gender biases, stereotypes and uplift women, says Alisha Moopen

Almost 60 per cent of Aster’s employee base of around 24,000 employees are women, who are functioning across different roles of responsibility in the company

Men and women have an equal responsibility to support women, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is about time that the world moves ahead of gender biases and stereotypes and uplifts women to do what they are truly capable of, said Alisha Moopen, deputy managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, on International Women’s Day 2022.

This year’s International Women’s Day theme — #BreakTheBias — is focused on a “gender-equal” world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination, which is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated and forging women’s equality.

The blue-chip firm led by Moopen — mother of three and daughter of Dr Azad Moopen, founder, chairman, and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare — is at the helm of corporate affairs and is seen as an ambassador of women empowerment in the Arab region.

Moopen endorses that ensuring gender balance at senior levels has to be a board agenda, as there are enough research papers that confirm the superior performance, governance, and stickiness by staff created by women leaders being in senior roles.

“We have to commit to a certain ratio of senior leadership and above being women, to be able to effect real change. Having a woman for just a namesake and to comply with some guidelines, or to show diversity and inclusion, will not suffice. It needs to be a more systematic and structured change where we commit to 30-40 per cent of leadership roles being occupied by women. Over the last few years, and even more so during the pandemic, we have witnessed that organisational cultural practices that emphasised high humane orientation, high gender equity, high-performance orientation, and low power distance were reported to have high percentages of women in management, relative to societal norms,” she explained.

Almost 60 per cent of Aster’s employee base of around 24,000 employees are women, who are functioning across different roles of responsibility in the company. The brand has launched Diva 2.0, an initiative to conduct medical camp and wellness programmes for low-income women workers.

“We just finished a camp in Al Quoz over the weekend, which benefitted 400 women from School Transport Services. Moreover, we have entered into a partnership with India’s well-known rural activist, Ruma Devi, to introduce health and women empowerment initiatives in the Barmer district of Rajasthan. The Barmer district comprises of 250 villages with a population size of almost three million. It would also see the launch of ‘Aster Volunteers Mobile Medical Services’, which would provide primary health check-ups, medical eye exams, and other services,” added Moopen, who was nominated among the top 100 Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum in 2020.

Aster Volunteers is a global corporate social responsibility initiative that is touching millions of lives. On account of International Women’s Day this year, Aster Volunteers conducted a multi-specialty medical and wellness camp at Infracare ladies accommodation at Al Quoz. “It was really heartwarming and inspiring to see how these women are so passionate and talented. We feel this is our fundamental responsibility of volunteering,” she said.

Moopen, who is a role model for aspiring businesswomen in the Arab world, thinks that women tend to take on challenges as they are inbuilt with a strong sense of resilience. “The last two years have proven that all women out there have been nothing less than warriors. Women are no longer simply accepting the roles assigned to them, but are challenging the status quo, getting their voices heard, and bringing about changes that matter. A lot of us have had to adapt to a new adjusted lifestyle juggling family and work within the four walls of our homes, to learning to use new technologies, to adjusting to situations beyond our expectations. However, this breaking out of the safe spaces leads to an environment of learning and this is the message I believe in and I would like to give out,” she noted.

Asked how she manages to balance between her home and work life, Moopen replied: “My philosophy in life is ‘healthiness is happiness’. I make sure I take out some time for myself on a daily basis and spend quality time with my family.”

Moopen is strongly influenced by both her parents, while her mother’s compassion of helping everyone in the family stayed with her, and her father has also inspired her to realise that her calling was towards the healthcare sector.

“My father has dedicated his life to healthcare, and now, to follow in my father’s footsteps, looking after people’s health and fulfilling my role in strengthening communities and contributing to humanity was an absolutely natural choice. The combination of my father’s external impact, and my mother’s internal impact, has had a very profound influence on me. In the outside world, I am constantly inspired by the women in the camps that work far from their families to support them. Global figures like Indra Nooyi, the former chief executive officer of PepsiCo; Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand; and Reem Al Hashimy, the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and director-general of Expo 2020 Dubai, have inspired me tremendously. I am constantly amazed at the strength of women, where our vulnerabilities are our strength even when it doesn’t seem so obvious,” concluded Moopen.

sandhya@khaleejtimes.com