No two countries run by women would ever go to war: Meta COO on Russia-Ukraine

Agencies | MoscowKyiv

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer (COO) of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said Tuesday that she believes “no two countries run by women would ever go to war” when speaking with CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on International Women's Day.

Sandberg's comments come amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The Meta COO said she also believes that if half the world were run by women, it would be “safer” and “much more prosperous,” according to CNBC.

Sandberg pointed out that many countries that were led by women during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic fared far better than those run by men.

She noted, however, that the pandemic has seen major setbacks for gender equality and women in the workforce.

There is a “complete crisis for gender equality,” Sandberg said, according to CNBC, adding that women’s roles in the workforce are “plummeting all over the world."

“COVID has wiped out three and a half decades of progress for women,” Sandberg said, referencing the 33-year low of women in the labour force. 

Sandberg also mentioned that she believes social media is "bad for dictators" when speaking with CNBC. "That’s why [Vladimir] Putin took us down," she added, referring to the Russian president's nixing of Facebook in his country during the widely condemned Ukraine war.

“When [Facebook and Instagram] go down in Russia, people are losing their ability to actually understand what’s happening," Sandberg said.

“We need to fight for access [and] make sure that social media exists so that people do get information from all over the world, and that that information is valid and real," she said.