Only 10 days until our International Day for Women in Maritime celebration on 18 May. Let's hear from the women leaders making a real difference in the industry. #WomenInMaritimeDay pic.twitter.com/NFXMHRZ8W0
— IMO (@IMOHQ) May 9, 2022
With only 10 days until the International Day for Women in Maritime celebration on 18 May, IMO gives the stage to women leaders making a real difference in shipping, to share their professional experience.
Speaking about her experience at IMO, Mayte Medina, Chair of IMO Maritime Safety Committee, said that her most enjoyable aspect of her role is knowing the people.
When i say knowing, i am talking about the delegates from the different countries and organisations. Also knowing that the problem that a major country has is the same problem that a smaller country has. That is the ability to share information
In addition, Ms. Medina also shared that the first time she showed up at IMO, there were three women in the room. Now she says that there are several women when they make these meetings, and most of them are in the speaking position.
The IMO International Day for Women in Maritime is observed on 18 May every year. The first day is being held in 2022.
The day celebrates women in the industry and is intended to promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen IMO’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.
An international symposium with the theme: Training-Visibility-Recognition: Supporting a barrier-free working environment, will be held virtually on 18 May 2022.
The symposium will highlight the need for women to be more visible and mainstreamed in the maritime community, on board ships and throughout the sector as a whole, and more widely in representation at decision-making levels. The symposium will also address skills development for women in the maritime sector.
In addition, the logo concept “Symbol of Women in Maritime” derives from merging the female gender symbol and iconic maritime anchor symbol.
Great initiative indeed by IMO following the declaration of May 18 as the International Day for Women in Maritime. Although the subject matter is long overdue, I welcome the initiative. However, the awareness won’t be sufficient if there are no solutions accompanying it. Yes, the training visibility is important, but more important is the visibility of IMO’s commitments through Conventions. What is critical here are solutions to address the barriers, otherwise this will be just another political statement to dress the day.
Most of the barriers if not all are deliberate and visible, and they require equally stringent measures to address. As Maritime Sector we can be exemplary to other sectors and help with the acceleration process to reduce number of years mentioned in the report. Sector target accompanied by timelines will be much helpful appreciated.
As a sector we can positively impact on poverty reduction, promotion of health, education, protection and well being of boys and girls. in a nutshell, we can positively contribute towards a healthy society.