The African Development Bank (AfDB)'s office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia kicked off celebrations of this year's International Women's Day on 7 March 2014 with a brief remark by Josephine Ngure, the Resident Representative, who stressed that gender equality is a commitment everyone should practise every day - within their families, their communities and within the AfDB - and should not be limited to a yearly event. Attendees at the event received a brochure covering the AfDB Gender Strategy, along with facts and figures on the status of African women with regards to their access to economic resources and participation in the work force.

AfDB staff members participated in a contest involving a random drawing of questions related to the AfDB Gender Strategy to test their knowledge about it. The goal was to encourage staff members to learn more about the strategy and to contribute towards putting it into action.

Five university students from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and the USA who were participating in the Africa Model United Nations Inaugural Conference taking place in Ethiopia attended the event. They shared their thoughts about the challenges and opportunities facing girl students in their respective universities and stressed the need for inspiring role models for young people, especially young girls.

During the event people shared traditional sayings with staff members, who tried then to find the exact English translation for them and also suggest interpretations of possible hidden meanings. Staff members also brainstormed on possible ways to keep the spirit of this year's theme alive throughout 2014. Ideas included involving female support staff in programme-related conferences and field visits as capacity enhancing exercises and consistently preparing gender related human interest stories as part of supervision mission reports.