LEADING FROM THE FRONT

The International Women’s Day theme for 2021, celebrated on March 8 every year, is #ChooseToChallenge, which highlights the importance of challenging biases and misconceptions in the interest of creating a more inclusive and gender-equal world.

- Dr Manbeena Chawla

At the same time, the United Nations (UN) has issued a 2021 theme: Women in leadership- Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world. The UN’s 2021 theme celebrates efforts from girls and women in creating a more equal future and COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

It is also aligned with the priority theme of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women that says- ‘Women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls’, and the flagship Generation Equality campaign, which calls for women’s right to decision making in all areas of life, equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end all forms of violence against women and girls, and healthcare services that respond to their needs.

Women across the globe are standing at the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, as healthcare workers, caregivers, innovators, community organizers, business leaders and as some of the most exemplary and effective national leaders in combating the pandemic. The crisis has highlighted both the centrality of their contributions and the disproportionate burdens that women carry.

Women leaders and workers have demonstrated their skills, knowledge and networks to effectively lead in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts throughout 2020. Today, there is more acceptance than ever before that women bring different experiences, perspectives and skills to the table, and make irreplaceable contributions to decisions, policies and laws that work better for all.