Make every day Women's Day

March 8, marks International Women’s Day (IWD), a United Nations celebration of women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements. IWD focuses on gender equality, women’s advancement and empowerment, so let’s talk about women.

Another year, another IWD. But where do women stand today? Have we made progress compared to the previous year, the past decade? Have women achieved gender equality? Depends on whom you ask. A 2024 Ipsos global study covering 31 countries shows that:

• 54% of respondents say that “when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone far enough” (60% of men agree with the statement vs. 49% of women)
• 40% of all respondents in the US
• 47% or almost half of the population in the UK and
• 80% or the overwhelming majority in Spain. 

When compared to the facts, the numbers from the Ipsos study are concerning. According to Eurostat, the gender pay gap in Europe was 12.7% in 2022, while in the US, it was 18% according to the Pew Research Center. Progress has been made and the gender pay gap has narrowed over the last decade in Europe, the US and Asia, but a significant gap still exists. Additionally, the global gender gap score, which measures the difference between women and men in social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments, was 68.4% in 2023 for all countries. The reality is that no country has achieved gender parity, and unfortunately, it may take over a century before women can expect to attain equality with men. 

So if you ask me whether we have achieved gender equality, the answer is a resounding no. Although women’s conditions have improved, we are far from gender equality and continue to observe striking disparities between genders worldwide, including:

• Imbalance in family responsibilities (domestic work, child care and elderly family care), even when both spouses work full-time
• Stark underrepresentation of women in leadership roles, both in the corporate world and in politics
• Greater difficulty for women entrepreneurs in accessing funding
• Gender pay gap and
• Investment gap.

So what are we to do? 

First of all, it should be pointed out that gender equality is a human right and is about fairness. Regardless of gender, everyone should be treated equally, and this should not be a matter of debate. As far as I know, we all have a mother and some of us have sisters, daughters or wives, making the condition of women a concern for most. We should all get involved and ask ourselves “What can I do?” And we need not wait for IWD to take action to improve the condition of women, both near and far. Let's make every day Women's Day.