International Women’s Day 2024: Inspire Inclusion

 

By David Hartingh, President and CEO

This week IESC is celebrating International Women’s Day, a global event that raises awareness of women’s issues, celebrates their contributions, and inspires collective action in creating a more inclusive world for women. It’s also an important opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women—economic, social, and cultural—and to reflect on the progress made, but also on the important work that remains in order to achieve gender equality.

This year’s theme, Inspire Inclusion, celebrates diversity and women’s empowerment on International Women’s Day and beyond. It’s a call to action to challenge stereotypes, call out gendered assumptions and actions, and to maintain an inclusive mindset. The theme also highlights the need to seek out and recognize the unique perspectives and contributions of women in all aspects of society in order to help forge a more gender equal world.

At IESC, we understand the critical role that women play in driving sustainable economic growth, but also recognize that women and girls face unique challenges in accessing economic opportunities. To better understand and address these constraints through our global programs, we conduct extensive local research and gender analyses to inform our program implementation. We also collaborate and seek partnerships with local women’s organizations and develop tailored activities and targets that are data-driven and context-specific. During program implementation, we disaggregate results by gender to ensure our efforts are impactful for women. This emphasis on integrating gender considerations into program design and implementation reflects our fundamental belief that when women are economically empowered, their families and communities also experience positive economic outcomes.

One way that we celebrate International Women’s Day at IESC is to share stories that highlight women’s economic empowerment, underscoring its importance in fostering inclusive economic growth. Throughout the week on our social media channels, we will be showcasing the accomplishments of our women program participants.

This includes IESC’s team of Market-led Production Specialists delivering technical assistance under our newly launched USAID Caribbean Agricultural Productivity improvement Activity (CAPA). The leadership and technical support of these women have been instrumental in identifying demonstration farms to support farmers in Guyana, Dominica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This also includes our inspirational program participants, such as the young women who are gaining practical and in-demand coding skills that support Georgia’s growing ICT industry, and the bold entrepreneurs who are launching new tourism-focused businesses and supporting the revival of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, among others. We look forward to sharing these stories and achievements with you.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t recognize the immense contributions of the women who are instrumental in helping IESC to achieve its vision of a world with economic opportunity for all, where people and communities thrive. This includes our female staff, both in the D.C. home office and in our program offices around the world, our partners and collaborators, our dedicated volunteers and consultants, and our esteemed Board Members.

We are proud to participate in this global event that amplifies women’s voices, honors their achievements, and raises awareness about gender parity issues. Thank you for joining us as we celebrate International Women’s Day 2024!

#IWD2024 #InspireInclusion