On Monday, people around the World celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) – a day which dates back to the early 1900s when women began campaigning for equal rights in work and life.
IWD is now celebrated by countries to acknowledge the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity and to fundraise for female-focused charities.
This year the campaign theme is ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world’. Alongside this, a social media campaign was held to encourage women to #ChooseToChallenge and to call out gender bias and inequality.
The Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Club of Port Moresby this morning from 6am-10am hosted a Breakfast to commemorate IWD at Stanley Hotel attended by women folks including males from different stakeholders (public, private & development partners) to discuss and highlight the ongoing mission of seeking equality for women, recognizing women and their achievements.
The theme “Choose to Challenge” was perfectly preferred essentially because change can occur when women make the decision to stand up and challenge the status quo. Individually, we’re all responsible for actions but by working together, we can help make the shift to a more inclusive world.
Neither women nor men can flourish without one another and there is no sustainable path to development, poverty reduction and eradication of hunger without gender equality.
They discussed about gender equality which is not a ‘women’s issue’ but affects both women and men, as it is rooted in the relationship between the two. Both women and men have to change their ways of working, attitudes and social norms, to ensure both are equal, empowered and dignified.
IWD is observed every year on March 8. It is a day that encourages the society to promote women power and make an equal space for all. With time, women have managed to come a long way and broke all the barriers and Women’s Day is all about celebrating the strength of women and their achievements.
There are many success stories that were shared this morning at Stanley Hotel, in our society that emphasized women’s capability and contribution towards the nation. A lot of change in gender equality has changed our society and the day is not far when the gap between men and women in the World of business will be bridged.
There were success stories about several BPW in terms of women entrepreneurs and in education which they have successfully adapted to the new environment by acquiring new skills, redesigning their processes, and accelerating the adoption of technology to tide over the challenges.
It is believed that more the women enter into businesses, the more value influence is created in the community. In this scenario, it is essential to encourage women more often to enter the male-dominated sectors like businesses. This will not only change the mindset of the financial lenders and investors but also add to the economic value of the country. To make an economy a captivating place to do business, gender diversity is of utmost importance.
Prominent human rights activist and keynote speaker Ruth J. Kissam and panelist Vani Nades respectively talks about Sorcery Accusation Related Violence (SARV) and told of her life story on how she was raised up in Laiagam- Enga province by her Late dad Ps. Kissam amongst male dominated siblings, her achievements and careers.
“We need a strong rule of law, we need swift and decisive action from the government. We need men, women and youths to be the voice for those who can’t speak for themselves,” Ms. Kissam eloquently stressed.
She said we need to choose to be better in the hope of creating a fair and just society not only for ourselves but for our children and their children. If we want a better world for our children tomorrow, we choose to change ourselves today.
There is a Native American saying, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” So since it’s borrowed, we have to leave it in a better condition then we found it.
Kissam, who was a champion and human rights defender, buried the condemn body of Kepari Leniata after being tortured and burnt in 2013 in Mt. Hagen. She late adopted Kepari’s daughter.
Ms. Nades, a leader already making a significant contribution in the business community and PNG as a nation stressed about entrepreneurship, thus creating lot of job opportunities in the areas of information communication technology (ICT) and education giving priority to rural villages and communities.
Jacqueline Boga Garoau, Principal Legal Advisor of the Department of Prime Minister & National Executive Council (PM & NEC) highlighted few of the disability issues and concerns basically Special Needs where attention must be given to them in terms of leadership training, infiltrating the fields of reproductive health, and empowering other disabled women, girls or even males by promoting independent living, advocacy, disability rights, legislation and more.
The Department of Implementation and Rural Development (DIRD) was part of the celebration.
DIRD Gender, Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) Policy Advisor Daniel Asher said the department supported BPW in its endeavours to promote, valuing women and girls in the rural areas through the Service Improvement Program (SIP) of provincial and district services improvement program (PSIP & DSIP), a government’s home-policy intervention program.
Mr. Asher said under the SIP program through health, education, law and justice and economic sectors women, girls and people with special needs are being taken care of.
