Global — Every year, on March 8, the world celebrates <a target="_blank" href="https://www.internationalwomensday.com/">International Women's Day</a>. It is a day when women in all spheres of life are recognized for their achievements. It is also an occasion for governments, UN agencies, development partners and civil society organizations to reflect on the status of women in all sectors, to assess their challenges and put in place equity measures to promote equality between men and women.
The theme for 2017, at the global level, is "Be bold for change to promote a better working world - a more gender inclusive world". Efforts for this year are focusing on reducing inequalities between men and women within the workplace and also about putting in place mechanisms to improve the working environment, to make it favorable for both men and women.
Measures that are key to ensuring women's economic empowerment in the changing world of work must include bridging the gender pay gap, which stands at 24 per cent globally; recognizing women's unpaid care and domestic work and addressing the gender deficit in care work; as well as addressing the gender gaps in leadership, entrepreneurship and access to social protection. They also should work towards ensuring gender-responsive economic policies for job creation, poverty reduction and sustainable, inclusive growth. Additionally, policies must count for the overwhelming majority of women in the informal economy, promote women's access to innovative technologies and practices, a decent work environment and quality jobs and measures in place to protect women from violence in the work place.
The African Development Bank joins the global community to celebrate the International Women's Day. This year, the AfDB is partnering with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, UN agencies, civil society organizations and other development partners to mark the celebration of International Women's Day, with a joint event organized in Adzopé, in the Agnéby region, a town located 100 kilometres east of Abidjan, the country's economic capital.
The event will be marked with the following key major activities:
The first meeting of the concertation framework on gender, chaired by the Minister of Women, Child Protection and Solidarity, Côte d'Ivoire, Mariatou Koné;
Conference on the "Women in the working world" on March 9 at the Université Houphouet Boigny (Amphithéâtre A, Centre de Ressources pédagogiques);
Celebration of the International Women's Day at the national level, on March 10 at Adzopé, with the First Lady of Côte d'Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara.
