Celebrating International Women's Day 2019

It is 110 years since the first ‘National Women’s Day’ and today we should celebrate the huge steps we have taken to advance mankind by improving dignity and respect for all. Nothing is more important for this agenda than making progress on gender equality. 

We’ve increasingly ensured women have enhanced rights and access to more opportunities in many places. The right to vote; to equal pay; and to choose how they want to live – improving society for the better. Indeed, if we celebrated these great achievements every day of the year, rather than only today, then perhaps we could go even further to help women realise their full potential.

Not least as we still have much to do. Take for example the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, which demonstrate a worrying lack of improvement on sexual harassment. And the fact that women’s access to nutrition, health, education and political and financial empowerment still significantly trails that of men.

We don’t need to look far for inspiration to act with even more determination. Women account for 70% of those in poverty. They do 66% of the work but earn 10% of income. There are more illiterate women in the world than men. And women are more likely to be raped, trafficked or attacked. No wonder it will take hundreds of years to close the gap.

So, it’s clear we still have a long way to go if we are to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially goal number five: Gender Equality. Until we leave no one behind our work is not finished. It’s not acceptable for women to pay a higher price for simply wanting to contribute to society, as this devalues humanity and what it means to be civilised.

In fact, women’s empowerment is absolutely core to the success of all the SDGs. This is because women disproportionately re-invest their incomes back into their families and communities. Exponentially driving down hunger, poverty and malnutrition and improving health and education. They also have more of the qualities needed to lead on the sustainable and equitable growth agenda, for example, being more collaborative, purpose-driven, likely to work better in partnership and more long-term focussed.

Not only do we have a moral obligation to do more, the business case is equally compelling. $28 trillion can be added to the global economy by 2025 by advancing women’s equality – and there is now overwhelming evidence that more gender-balanced organisations do significantly better. Hiring from a 100% talent pool should in fact be standard practice.

It’s also important to recognise the commercial self-interest in promoting women’s participation in the economy. From a business perspective, women control 64% of consumer spending and are the fastest growing group of consumers in the world. Women are intrinsic to the economy’s success. We must therefore impatiently strive for a gender-balanced society that provides the same opportunities for all.

Challenging the adverse social norms and stereotypes that hold women back is equally crucial. The Unstereotype Alliance is a great example of the progress we need to make. This initiative – convened by UN Women – unites leaders across business, technology and the creative industries to use the power of advertising to help eradicate harmful gender-based stereotypes.

No one ever said empowering women through increased rights and opportunities would be an easy journey. But it’s journey that must be taken and with everyone playing their part to deliver change.

If governments, business, civil society and citizens all work together there is no limit to what we can do – at scale and with maximum impact.

I certainly look forward to playing my role.