‘Each for Equal’ and ‘I am Generation Equality’

SUNDAY, March 8 is International Women’s Day. Each year this celebrated event adopts different themes/messages that are central to women’s rights, globally. The 2020 theme is ‘Each for Equal’ and ‘I am Generation Equality’, which are aligned with the United Nations (UN) Women’s multigenerational campaign for equality and marking 25-years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

International Women’s Day 2020 will also mark several other seismic moments in the gender equality movement. This will include a five-year milestone towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council’s resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and the 10th anniversary of the UN Women’s establishment.

There is now a global consensus that women’s rights and the surge for equality across a wide spectrum of society is gaining traction every year because of concepts like International Women’s Day. Its primary purpose is to take the global concerns surrounding women’s rights and implement them at a local level. We all have a responsibility to identify where discrimination occurs and redress it through education, enlightenment and action.

This applies to the home, workplace or within society in general. Breaking down barriers (as opposed to just shifting them) is key. Global recognition of women’s rights at a local level and creating an environment that increases opportunity for women to express their talent, confidence and contribution to society as a whole, is a fundamental requirement.