Need idea to celebrating International Women’s Day this year ? Get on board with these meaningful events happening soon.
Each year International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8th March, with the first day being held in 1911. In 1946, the UN Commission established the first set standards of women’s rights, encouraging governments to bring their laws in line with international convention and to encourage global awareness of women’s rights.
While 131 countries have made legal reforms to support gender equality and more girls are in school than ever before, we are still far from achieving equality and equity for women.
International Women’s Day 2021 : #ChooseToChallenge
This year IWD theme is #ChooseToChallenge – which looks to celebrate women’s achievement, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality.
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.
In honour of International Women’s Day, here are events happening this week and throughout March :
Let’s start with…
Breakthrough India : Decoding Bystander Behaviour
5 March 2021
How do bystanders like you impact harassment and violence against women?
Over the last year, Breakthrough India has been working on research on bystander behaviour and violence against women. Today, they are happy to report that their research is complete and they have new and exciting findings to share with you.
This Friday, 5 March 2021, attend their online report launch where they will be presenting the findings and talking about the way forward.
At 2 pm, they will also be hosting a diverse panel discussion to talk about bystander intervention!
Violence In A Click : How Do We Close The Tab On TFSV ?
6 March 2021
In 2019, the number of technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) cases received by AWARE’s Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC) was 140, out of a total of 777 cases. This number has tripled since 2016, reflecting the upwards trend of TFSV cases on a national and global scale. Join AWARE for this free online panel discussion to address policy and other solutions for TFSV. Speakers include researchers Catherine Chang and Holly Apsley from the Lee Kuan Yew Centre of Innovative Studies, as well as Tan Joo Hymn, director of AWARE’s Birds & Bees programme. This event is supported by the High Commission of Canada.
Women in Leadership: What Does It Take?
8 March 2021
Join UN Women’s EU-funded WeEmpowerAsia programme for the virtual discussion “Women in Leadership: What Does It Take?” to hear from business leaders and policymakers about the most tangible actions companies are taking to help women advance into leadership positions and fully participate in the economy.
The session will especially examine the “behind-the-scenes” measures that create the enabling environment for women to lead and excel in the business world, including the role of equal pay, safe and inclusive workplaces, gender-inclusive recruitment and retention policies, caregiving policies, as well as mentorship support programmes for women employees. Details of the 2nd edition of the UN Women Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards and virtual WEPs signing ceremony for businesses in April will also be unveiled at the event.
This online event will take place via Zoom and streamed live to Facebook (@unwomenasia) on Monday, March 8 from 14:00 – 15:30 (GMT+7).
Business Fights Poverty Virtual Summit 2021 : Gender #RebuildBetter
9 – 11 March 2021
To coincide with International Women’s Day (IWD) 2021, and the UN’s Generation Equality campaign, we are convening our next #RebuildBetter Virtual Summit from 9th to 11th March in partnership with UN Women and CARE International UK. Business Fights Poverty is taking as their starting point, the IWD theme of #ChooseToChallenge: with a focus on how we, as a community focused on harnessing business for social impact, can challenge ourselves to step up and ensure gender equity is at the core of an equitable and resilient future.
Through the event sessions, Business Fights Poverty will also explore the importance of women’s leadership. New research, published in the Harvard Business Review, finds that women are rated better leaders than men by those who work for them, and that this gap has been even greater during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reflects the fact that women score more highly on those leadership traits valued most in a crisis: the ability to inspire, motivate, communicate, collaborate and build relationships. Getting through the pandemic and addressing other crises – notably climate change – will require us all to deepen these core leadership skills, regardless of gender.
But we must also urgently address the deep seated inequalities and barriers that face women in business, whether that is progression through to the leadership levels of large businesses or the ability of women-owned small and medium enterprises to survive and thrive. What are the barriers that women face, what practical actions can we take, and what role can men play as allies in the fight against gender bias and inequality?
Join them across three days of live events, together with community-generated video, audio and written content, to explore these issues through three lenses: enterprise, agriculture and tackling gender-based violence.
Participants will come away with fresh insights, new peer relationships and the opportunity to engage in collaborative action.
Are Unconscious Micro-Agressions Holding You Back ?
10 March 2021
Challenges can be daunting. But the ball is in our court – how we choose to react and respond to them. It’s time to stand up, recognize the unconscious micro-aggressions that hold women back. It’s time that we #ChooseToChallenge, to #LeanIn rather than step back.
