A group, the Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN) has called for visible action towards women empowerment, and to acknowledge women as valuable contributors to policy making ,and development in the society.
According to EDEN, the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, tagged: “‘Accelerate action,” emphasizes the urgency of advancing gender equality, and the need for collective action to accelerate progress towards a more just, and equitable world.
It said women and girls continue to face significant barriers to equality, including limited access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, as well as persistent pay gaps, and unequal representation in leadership positions.
The group listed other barriers women face as pervasive violence and harassment, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and human trafficking, intimidation, and oppression in the workplace that limit the rights and freedom of women.
To address these challenges, EDEN called on governments, organizations, and individuals to: promote inclusive policies, and laws that benefit women and girls, support women’s leadership, and participation in all areas of life, address inter-sectional inequalities and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, and end violence against women and girls, while ensuring access to justice and support services.
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EDEN stressed the need to recognize that women’s empowerment is essential to achieving a more prosperous, peaceful, and sustainable world.
“We reaffirm our commitment to promoting women’s rights, equality, and empowerment. Let us all continue to speak, and take swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality, and increased pace and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers, and biases that women face, both in personal and professional fields,” it said.
