International Women's Day 2024

It’s time to  celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8^th March 2024. Each one of us can make a positive difference for women, and this year’s theme is: "Let's Inspire Inclusion". The first International Women’s day was held all the way back in March 1911! The timeline to date shows just how far the rallying call for equality has come.

International Women's Day timeline

In the context of IWD, I count myself fortunate to work as the HR Director in a company where gender is irrelevant to the opportunities available. We have more women on our Operating Board than men, they deserve to be there, because they are the best at what they do.

As a company we plan to keep inclusion and equality inherent in what we do, and for example last year we introduced our enhanced maternity pay and we make every effort to be as flexible as we can. There is always room for improvement, we can always do better, and that is where self-awareness and reflection will help us learn and grow.

Of course every one of us is unique and we are very fortunate to live in a democracy where equality is high on the agenda, helping to shape a better future for us all. But IWD is also about educating everyone on the issues affecting women, worldwide, especially in those countries where accelerating gender equality through economic, political and cultural empowerment seems a long way off.

Everyone, everywhere can inspire inclusion and the IWD campaign asks everyone to commit to this principle:

"When women aren't present, we must ask: "If not why not?" When women are discriminated against, we must call out poor practice. When the treatment of women is not equitable, we must take action. And we must do this each time, every time."

However small our actions, we can all make a difference and improve equality in every area of women's lives.