IMO launched a new logo for its Women in Maritime programme, as part of its mission to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The primary objective of the program is to encourage IMO Member States to open the doors of their maritime institutes to enable women to train alongside men and acquire the high-level of competence that the maritime industry demands.
Helen Buni, Program Leader, commented
The IMO Women in Maritime programme supports the participation of women in both shore-based and sea-going posts, under the slogan Training-Visibility-Recognition’, through a wide range of gender-specific activities. The new logo is just one visible part of the programme and will help women in maritime gain more visibility and exposure throughout the maritime sector and beyond.
The program began 31 years ago, yet its portfolio of activities has expanded.
IMO has facilitated the establishment of seven regional associations for women in the maritime sector across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands, some 152 countries and dependent territories and 490 participants.
Moreover, the program provides gender-specific fellowships, giving the chance to women for high-level technical training in the maritime sector in developing countries.
According to IMO, in its World Maritime University (WMU) in Sweden, the proportion of women graduates has increased over the years, from four in 1985 to 79 in 2018.
By the end of the academic year 2017-2018, 1,029 females had graduated from the University, out of a total 4,919 graduates.
At IMO’s International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI), 361 women had graduated by the end of the 2017-2018 academic year, out of a total of 837 graduates.
During 2019, some 10 activities are planned under the umbrella of the IMO Women in Maritime programme, including conferences, courses, workshops and regional meetings.
We are inviting IMO Member States and particularly the regional associations for women in the maritime sector to use the new logo as they see fit, to show that they are part of a strong, global IMO Women in Maritime family.
… Ms Buni noted.
Concluding, IMO’s Women in Maritime programme was known as the programme for the Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector (IWMS).
