Despite the fact that fishing is one of the world’s most dangerous professions, many people depend on this industry for their livelihoods, and especially women who often face difficult conditions. For this reason, IMO focused on providing equal opportunities for the women in the sector, during the first International Conference of Women in Fisheries.
During the International Conference of Women in Fisheries, that took place in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, from 5 to 7 November, IMO focused on how to train women in this sector.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
Namely, IMO highlighted how it can provide technical training for women in the maritime sector, which the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have agreed to implement.
Now, FAO and ILO will cooperate with IMO to set out project proposals to increase women’s recruitment and access to training in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
Participants in the conference also discussed various topics such as working conditions, the role of women in aquacultures and women’s associations and leadership.
Finally, the participants adopted the Santiago de Compostela Declaration for Equal Opportunities in the Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors. This declaration pledges participants readiness to collaborate on a global strategy to boost equal opportunities and lists a number of necessary steps to achieve this.
These measures include the following:
- Collecting data to identify gender gaps;
- Improving working conditions;
- Increasing women’s access to training;
- Fostering empowerment and leadership through the formation of women’s associations within the fisheries and aquaculture sector.