Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress – Time to ROAR

IWD 2024 It may seem strange writing about International Women’s Day on almost the last day of March rather than in the lead up or on March 8 however I wanted to reflect on the impact, if any.

International Womens Day OR IWD has become quite an Event with many scrambling to hold a breakfast, lunch or dinner with local identities and places filled with good intentions. 

A celebration of women. 

‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress”

There are two different offerings about the day itself, the United Nations, ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress” and one from a business created around IWD, their theme for 2024 was InspireInclusion.

I am not sure why we need two themes, the UN has run with IWD since 1977 whilst the newer one is corporate-based and only began in 2001. Wikipedia says that the corporate-based one is managed by a marketing firm with corporate sponsorship and is unfortunately the one whose theme is frequently adopted. Personally, I find the corporate themes to be quite trite, typical of a marketing organisation perhaps. 

2025 the theme

In 2025 I suggest any organisation thinking about holding an event pay attention to the theme they use. Who is promoting it and what does it actually mean.

‘Invest in women, accelerate progress’ is less catchy perhaps but has deeper meaner. If we invest in women then we accelerate progress. From Boardrooms to remote villages, investing in women brings both diversity and depth and through educating girls in villages we bring great change to the world.

HEAR US ROAR

As women we battle on many fronts. Before we have achieved parity we have intersectionality that further divided/diluted our cause. We are Women, Hear Us Roar. Women, need to be celebrated certainly however we also need to show our strength in numbers, united in our messaging. Yes, easy for me to say as a mature white woman. 

Mess with women, take away our rights by scrapping off precedents set by Roe vs Wade, bringing in male-born physiques to compete against our female-born physiques in the athletic sphere, allowing men in womens (this includes not just adult women but young girls) change rooms. All things that women born understand. We understand the upbringing norms of ‘boys being boys’, of sugar and spice and everything nice, of pink and princesses, of the changes and attention brought by puberty, the ongoing and forever fear of sexual attention and rape, we walk to our cars at night and by day, highly aware of our safety, we hear daily of our sisters being killed at the hands of their partners and the statistics of women over 55 becoming homeless continue to rise. 

The distraction is real. 

PICK YOUR BATTLE

Whilst my compassion runs deep I continue to be conflicted because of my deep-seated belief that women need to keep fighting for parity, for safety, the right to dictate what happens to our own bodies, to get a position on a Board based on ability and qualification not to satisfy quotas, to not be the subject of harassment or discrimination, to be taught about money, to have financial security and career security. 

I cannot fight all battles. Should I be silent? Maybe that’s been the problem, women of my age have been brought up split between the women’s liberation movement and living in the patriarchal systems that operate throughout society – still, yep, they are still alive and well.  I need to choose and this year I choose to ‘invest in women, to accelerate progress’. 

Themes from the United Nations IWD.

1996	Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future
1997	Women and the Peace Table
1998	Women and Human Rights
1999	World Free of Violence Against Women
2000	Women Uniting for Peace
2001	Women and Peace: Women Managing Conflicts
2002	Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunities
2003	Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals
2004	Women and HIV/AIDS
2005	Gender Equality Beyond 2005; Building a More Secure Future
2006	Women in Decision-making
2007	Ending Impunity for Violence Against Women and Girls
2008	Investing in Women and Girls
2009	Women and Men United to End Violence Against Women and Girls
2010	Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All
2011	Equal Access to Education, Training, and Science and Technology: Pathway to Decent Work for Women
2012	Empower Rural Women, End Poverty, and Hunger
2013	A Promise is a Promise: Time for Action to End Violence Against Women
2014	Equality for Women is Progress for All
2015	Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!
2016	Planet 50–50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality
2017	Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030
2018	Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives
2019	Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change
2020	“I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”
2021	Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world
2022	Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow
2023	DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality[120]
2024	Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress