March 8, 2021 is International Women’s Day! To celebrate the indispensable role of women during the global COVID crisis, the 2021 IWD theme is "Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world".
Not only have women been health workers and caregivers, community organizers and innovators, they have also been effective leaders during the pandemic. Yet women remain woefully under-represented at all levels of decision-making worldwide, with only 21 female head of government or state.
Women have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. It’s estimated that women’s employment is 1.8x more vulnerable to a negative impact due to COVID-19 than their male colleagues. Although women make up almost 40% of the global workforce, they account for more than 50% of the job losses during the pandemic. Nearly 3,000,000 women have had to leave the workforce due to the pandemic in the United States alone.
Gender parity is vital in thriving societies and economies. We believe that it is vital for policy-makers at all levels to not only acknowledge the contribution of women around the globe, but also recognize that the challenges for women may be different than those faced by their male counterparts.
“A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world. From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge.” (internationalwomensday.com)