Gender Attack: Swiss Media Calls Newly Elected WTO DG, Okonjo-Iweala ’66 Yr-Old Nigerian Grandmother’

Gender Attack: Swiss Media Calls Newly Elected WTO DG, Okonjo-Iweala '66 Yr-Old Nigerian Grandmother'

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You could graduate from Harvard University or bag a Ph.D. from MIT, and rise to become the managing director of the World Bank who wins the heart of 164 countries to be voted WTO DG and still be primarily described as a “66-year-old Nigerian grandmother”.

 

 

At least three Swiss newspapers Luzerner Zeitung, Aargauer Zeitung and St. Galler Tagblatt — have all primarily described Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the recently-elected director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), as a 66-year-old Nigerian grandmother.

 

 

While Okonjo-Iweala is indeed a grandmother and a 66-year-old, describing her as such after such a major appointment has led to a heavy backlash on and off social media.

 

The reportage from this section of the Swiss media has been referred to as an expression of racism and gender discrimination.

 

 

“This Grandmother will become the new boss of WTO,” the headline of a report by Luzerner Zeitung read, announcing Okonjo-Iweala’s selection as the director-general.

 

 

The article was published in the online and hardcopy version of the newspaper. But following the backlash on social media, the online version of the article was edited to read “This 66-year-old Nigerian will head WTO”.

 

 

Linda Klare-Repnik, the coordinator environmental and social management system, at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, called the newspaper out on Linkedin.

 

 

“Gender discrimination and racism: Swiss newspaper headlines the nomination of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for WTO Director General as ‘This Grandmother will become the new boss of WTO,” she wrote.

 

 

“If it had been a white man, the title would have been along the lines of ‘Harvard Economist, ex-World Bank Managing Director and ex Minister of Finance …’