We celebrate International Women’s Day every year on the 8th of March. This year, the theme is Accelerate Action and focuses on making the changes we need to ensure gender equality in our lifetime. According to statistics from the World Economic Forum, data suggests that at our current pace of change, gender parity will only be achieved in 2158, which is over 100 years away!
To bring that milestone closer, we need to drive change on a broader scale. As discussed in the post we wrote last year about International Women’s Day, gender equality is crucial for many reasons. Women play a critical role in society, and by empowering both women and girls, we are not only bettering our current society but also enhancing prospects for future generations.
In this post, we’ll talk more about the importance of celebrating International Women’s Day, and share some insight into the current data around gender equality. We’ll also talk about upskilling for women who take on many different roles.
The importance of celebrating International Women’s Day
If we take a look at the history of International Women’s Day, we can see how the women’s movement started in Europe and the USA and grew to include events in countries across the world. This means that the potential global impact of this day is exponential.
What started as a day to honour women’s rights in the early 1900s has now evolved into a worldwide event. Reflecting on over a century’s worth of mobilising women across the globe, there is much to celebrate, but also much more that we can achieve.
International Women’s Day 2025 theme: Accelerate Action
It’s been over a hundred years since women marched in New York City to fight for better working conditions, and in many respects, we have come a long way. However, in many parts of the world, women and girls still don’t have access to the same resources and privileges as men. In the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, data shows that while there has been overall improvement since data tracking began in 2006, there is still much work to be done.
Unfortunately, while we imagine progress to follow a linear upward progression, many factors influence whether or not we can close the gender gap. Sadly, the path is not straightforward. For example, data shows that when there is an economic downturn, women are less likely to be hired in senior roles. Conversely, greater female representation shows increased resilience to retrenchment during tough economic times.
Caregiving is another area that shows how the gender gap can widen, especially when it comes to perceptions of men’s and women’s participation in equal caregiving. For example, while many women advance in their careers, what happens when partners decide to have a baby? What resources do we have to support women who want to work and have a family? These questions don’t have easy answers in many countries, which can cause economic participation for women to go backwards.
You don’t need to be a career woman or a radical feminist to help close the gender gap. While we might not have all the answers, in order to Accelerate Action, we must focus on empowering women in whatever way we can in our own areas of influence. At SACAP Global, we focus on upskilling and developing leadership and other durable skills that can help women future-proof their skillset.
How SACAP Global is empowering women in many roles
We know that women take on many valuable roles in society, which aren’t always given the attention and recognition they deserve. Women often participate in multiple roles daily, from wife to employee to parent to leader to ageing parent caregiver and many other roles in between.
Whether you’re a mother, sister, daughter, friend, girlfriend or any combination of these (and more), we’d like to support you on your journey by empowering you with the upskilling tools you need to thrive in a changing world.
Some of our most popular short online courses include the following:
- Enhancing Mental Health: Stress, burnout and poor mental health take their toll on our ability to care for others and ourselves. No matter what roles you take on on a daily basis, developing tools to manage your mental health is essential.
- Essential Entrepreneurial Skills: Women have a powerful role to play when it comes to growing economies. You don’t have to be a CEO to run a business, but entrepreneurial skills can empower you with crucial business acumen, which you can apply to any endeavour you choose.
- Enhancing Self-Esteem: Tools for Personal Empowerment: While the goal is to empower women on a grand scale, taking the time to empower ourselves is crucial and starts with building a solid foundation when it comes to self-esteem.
- Intro to Management & Leadership: Women have considerable value to add to any business environment. By learning more about how to be an effective manager and leader, women can empower themselves to take on challenges and grow in whichever capacity they choose.
- Developing a Growth Mindset: By breaking down self-limiting beliefs, we can empower ourselves and expand our mindsets about what we can achieve as women, both personally and professionally.