IMO, the One Earth Future foundation, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) hosted “Women, Peace, and Maritime Security: Equal Opportunities in Maritime Security,” at IMO Headquarters, on 24 May.
Women’s participation in the economy, political decision-making, and society is key to addressing maritime challenges, but gender equity in the maritime space is too often overlooked.
As such, the event brought together experts from the maritime and security sector to discuss the importance of women in maritime security, obstacles to women’s participation, and how to integrate the women, peace, and security agenda into the maritime space.
“If women can’t be seen, they can’t be applauded, and therefore they can’t be seen as a resource,” said Helen Buni, who leads the Women in Maritime programme at IMO. This programme aims to meet the sustainable development goals, particularly goal 5, to help create an environment in which women are identified and selected for career development opportunities in maritime administrations, ports and maritime training institutes.
One Earth Future President Larry Sampler said:
Diversity, particularly gender diversity, in any workforce improves the quality of that workforce, particularly if the job requires intellectual thought and strategic vision.
The event attempted to highlight the importance of women in maritime and encouraged more conversation for gender equality in shipping industry.
