Michele Torres Ward’s Post

Happy International Women's Day 💙 For me, it’s a day that transcends the traditional notions of softness and tenderness often linked with women, highlighting instead their resilience and the ongoing struggle for equality. The United Nations has set a powerful theme this year, urging us to catalyze change by investing in women’s potential: ▫️Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress▫️ The statistics speak volumes: ✅ An additional $360 billion annually is required to bridge the gender equality gap. ✅ Eliminating employment disparities could increase GDP per capita by 20%. ✅Addressing care gaps and enhancing services could generate nearly 300 million jobs by 2035. However, a stark reality looms — if we maintain the status quo, over 342 million women and girls risk falling into extreme poverty by 2030. The prospect is daunting, but the solution is clear. By investing in women, we not only champion gender equality but also fuel a future ripe with opportunities, empowering every member of society to flourish. #internationalwomensday #InvestInWomen #GenderEquality #empowerment

What is the theme of this year's IWD? 🤔 Until a few years ago, like what appears to be the majority of well intended folk I too used to google the theme and assume the website that comes top was the official page. What I hadn't appreciated was this this site was owned by a faceless (and clearly well funded) org and wasn't anything to do with the roots of IWD and it's mission of activism for gender equality. The 'official' theme this year and arguably one more compelling and relevant than 'Inspire Inclusion' is 'Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress. 🚀 Globally, we’re still centuries away from gender equality. Estimates say it will take up to 286 years to close legal gaps and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership at work, and at least 40 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments. As of the end of 2022, it’s estimated that around 383 million women and girls live in extreme poverty. And every 11 minutes, a woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family. 😢 Globally 10.3 per cent of women live in extreme poverty today, and they are poorer than men. Progress towards ending poverty needs to be 26 times faster to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal 1 by 2030. 😠 Investing in women is both an economic imperative and a human rights issue. It is a human rights issue because the global economic and financial systems are complicit in perpetuating gender inequality. 💰 Recognising women’s rights as an investment issue is critical for creating transformative solutions that enable women to realise their rights, escape the cycle of poverty, and truly thrive. Investing in women is a cornerstone for building inclusive societies. Progress for women benefits us all. https://lnkd.in/eA6UsFxq #iwd24 #investinwomen

Investing in women and championing gender equality turbocharges a future where everyone in society can thrive, creating a world of boundless opportunity and empowerment for all. At the current rate of investments however, more than 340 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030. It has never been more urgent to advance women’s economic empowerment, as marked by the 2024 theme for International Women’s Day: “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”. #international women's day

Today is International Women’s Day. This year’s theme? Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress. Investing in women and championing gender equality turbocharges a future where everyone in society can thrive, creating a world of boundless opportunity and empowerment for all. https://lnkd.in/eJs--nUG

Happy #internationalwomensday2024 to all the great #women! This year the #unitednations has identified five key areas needing joint action: 🔸 Investing in women, a human rights issue: Time is running out. Gender equality is the greatest human rights challenge, benefiting everyone. 🔸 Ending poverty: Due to the COVID pandemic and conflicts, 75 million more people have fallen into severe poverty since 2020. Immediate action is crucial to prevent over 342 million women and girls living in poverty by 2030. 🔸 Implementing gender-responsive financing: Conflicts and rising prices may lead 75% of countries to cut public spending by 2025, negatively impacting women and their essential services. 🔸 Shifting to a green economy and care society: The current economic system disproportionately affects women. Advocates propose a shift to a green economy and care society to amplify women's voices. 🔸 Supporting feminist change-makers: Despite leading efforts, feminist organizations receive only 0.13% of official development assistance. This International Women’s Day, let’s unite to transform challenges into opportunities and shape a better future for all! https://lnkd.in/eD8edjQY #InvestInWomen

🌺 Today (8 March) marks the International Women’s Day, devoted to celebrating the achievements of women and seeking gender equality. 🌺 The campaign theme in 2024 is #InspireInclusion. 🌺 The official theme of the United Nations observance of the day is "Invest in women: Accelerate progress". 🌺 According to the World Economic Forum it will take another 131 years to reach gender parity!

In celebration of International Women’s Day, firstly so much gratitude to the countless women who have paved the way for a more just future for all, often after great sacrifice whether fighting for the right to vote, to get an education, for bodily autonomy, and so many more rights we cannot take for granted. Some key data points on the continuing need for investment in gender equality: “Women spend around three times more time on unpaid care work than men and if these activities were assigned a monetary value they would account for more than 40 percent of GDP.” #internationalwomensday #investinwomen

Today is International Women's Day. The UN theme this year is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress". According to the UN, some US$360 billion is needed per year to achieve gender equality, closing gender gaps in employment could boost GDP per capita by 20 per cent, and closing gaps in care and expanding services with decent jobs could spark almost 300 million jobs by 2035. #IWD2024 #InvestInWomen https://lnkd.in/gf_-7_SR

Today is International Women’s Day! This year, the focus is the amount of financing it would take to help achieve gender equality by 2030, standing at an annual 360 billion deficit, however this investment could boost GDP per capita by 20% and result in 300 million jobs by 2035. So, the call is to ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress’. We believe in advancing gender equality in our workplace, marketplace and community by focusing our efforts on the development of an action strategy for women’s equality. To demonstrate this we have committed to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). #WomenInMarlink Join the conversation using the hashtag #InvestInWomen or find out more on the UN’s website below: https://lnkd.in/gf_-7_SR