INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY LUNCH
“WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: ACHIEVING AN EQUAL FUTURE IN A COVID-19 WORLD”
GRAND HYATT HOTEL, 11 MARCH 2021
REMARKS BY AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVE JENNY BLOOMFIELD
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to our celebration for International Women’s Day 2021.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is: “Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”.
And I am proud to share this event with so many women who are leaders in their fields, and who are passionate about achieving and defending gender equality.
Around the world, COVID has exacerbated gender inequalities with its immense strain on our economies, political institutions and health systems.
But COVID has also provided an opportunity to reflect on and empower women as change-makers, innovators and leaders.
Women everywhere are leading the COVID response - as policy makers, activists, healthcare workers, community organisers, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Taiwan exemplifies this, and Taiwan’s COVID management has been among the best in the world.
We know that societies that include women in all aspects of economic, political and cultural life are more vibrant, more inclusive, more productive and more stable, for everyone.
But women continue to be under-represented in positions of leadership. And COVID is likely to slow progress.
We will not achieve gender equality while women are absent from leadership.
And to be successful leaders, women need skills, they need capacity, and they need institutional support.
They need access to childcare, training, safe transport.
And they need mentoring, and role models.
Australia is proud of the work that we are doing to support women’s leadership in the Indo-Pacific region.
And we are proud of our achievements at home, too.
In 2019, we achieved gender parity in the Australian Senate for the first time.
Women now occupy almost half of all positions on Australian Government Boards, and almost one-third of the boards of Australia’s largest companies.
And more than 40 percent of our Ambassadors are women.
Taiwan is a leader in the empowerment of women.
But for all of us, there is still a long road ahead, and our work together to achieve gender equality in the COVID world could not be more important.
Now more than ever, we must stand together to ensure that the girls of today can realise the future they deserve.
On this year’s International Women’s day, and every day, let us celebrate the significant contributions and accomplishments of women and girls in the COVID-19 response, and in the post-COVID recovery.
And let us re-commit to working together to practically support women’s leadership to build a more equal, inclusive and prosperous world.