ON MARCH 8, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. It has been designated to acknowledge and celebrate the many social, economic, cultural and political achievements and contributions of women around the world.
According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), the observance of International Women’s Day (IWD) was a result of the organizing activities of women in the early 20th century. Between 1909 and 1911, working women in the United States participated in organizing strike activities of the National Women’s Trade Union League and other concerned groups. They were responding to the low wages, lack of protective legislation and the poor working conditions to which women workers were subjected during that time.
With this year’s team “Pledge for Parity,” people are encouraged to take a concrete step to help achieve gender parity more quickly—whether to help women and girls achieve their ambitions, call for gender-balanced leadership, respect and value difference, develop more inclusive and flexible cultures or root out workplace bias. Each of us can be a leader within our own spheres of influence and commit to taking pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Then one year later in 2015, they estimated that a slowdown in the already glacial pace of progress meant the gender gap wouldn’t close entirely until 2133.
In the Philippines, March is Women’s Role in History Month. It is also National Women’s Heart Health Month, its first week is Women’s Week and its 8th day is International Women’s Day.
The country was recently hailed by WEF as Asia’s best-performing country and fifth in the world when it comes to closing gender disparity. Iceland remained the most gender-equal country in this year’s list, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden and Ireland. Rwanda ranked sixth, followed by the Philippines at seventh. Switzerland, Slovenia, and New Zealand completed the top 10 worldwide.
The Global Gender Gap Index is measured based on four primary indicators which include economic participation and opportunity, education, political empowerment, and health and survival.
In its Global Gender Gap Index, the WEF reported that the major improvement was seen in the economic participation and opportunity indicator after the Philippines recorded more female legislators, senior officials and managers, as well as professional and technical workers. The country also saw slight improvement in its score for political empowerment due to a higher number of women in ministerial positions.
While Filipinas have made strides in realizing their formidable role in nation building, the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) still insists that more women initiate genuine societal transformation where their demands would be fulfilled. They must contribute to bridging gender disparities and shortfalls especially in areas with low development levels such as areas with high poverty level, and are hazard-prone and disaster affected.
For the world to truly enjoy gender equality and women empowerment, men and women alike must continue exerting tremendous efforts to identify remaining difficulties threatening women’s development, not just for their advancement but for the better future of all. (AJPress)
