We asked and colleagues answered: International Women's Day 2024

As Ireland joins the global community in commemorating International Women's Day on March 8th, 2024, it's a time not just for celebration, but for reflection and action. It's a moment to recognise the vital role each woman plays in shaping our communities, workplaces, and society at large.

While we celebrate the achievements of women, we must also acknowledge the challenges that persist. Ireland has an excellent reputation in gender equality and inclusion. Nevertheless, inequality, pay gaps, and underrepresentation in leadership roles are realities that many women still face today. International Women's Day serves as a reminder of the work yet to be done in achieving true gender parity.

Ibec member resources

Ibec continues to prioritise Diversity, Inclusion and Equality in the business community through policy engagement, member guidance and facilitating knowledge sharing among businesses. In our ongoing efforts to ensure accessibility to essential resources for supporting your diversity and inclusion journey, we developed the Ibec Diversity Hub.

The Diversity Hub serves as a comprehensive resource centre for Ibec members. It furnishes members with access to thought leadership, sample documents, toolkits, guidance documents, best practice case studies, and insightful perspectives across various facets of diversity. We invite you to explore this hub and leverage its wealth of resources to enrich your journey towards fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace.

We also host a quarterly Diversity Forum to this is a network of over 600 professionals with responsibility for Diversity and Inclusion in their organisations. At each meeting we tend to have internal and external speakers focusing on important topics including, gender balance; inclusive recruitment, mental health and wellbeing; LGBT+ issues including Ally programmes and transitioning; ageing and the generations in the workplace.

To join the Diversity Forum email: Kara.McGann@ibec.ie

We also created a Gender Pay Gap Guide to help businesses. This guide focuses on addressing the gender pay gap by analysing data and posing insightful questions about gender representation challenges. It helps identify blockers, prioritise actions, and features case studies from organisations like Deloitte and Accenture. You can check out Ibec’s Gender Pay Gap supports here.

Our policy team adopts an intersectional approach across various areas. Next week, Ibec will release a policy paper addressing working carers. This is a noteworthy concern as 57% of unpaid carers are simultaneously engaged in mainstream employment. With these numbers projected to rise, the convergence of caregiving and employment presents both a business and societal challenge. Given that the majority of carers are currently women, organisations must proactively take measures to future-proof their workplaces. Recognising the necessary support systems is imperative to ensure that working carers can sustain their connection to the labour market.

We asked, colleagues answered.

This year's celebrations of IWD are an opportunity to amplify the voices of women from all walks of life. It's about recognising the crucial role our people and businesses play in ensuring that women’s voices are heard and valued. That women are represented in leadership positions and are supported to progress within their organisations.

We asked some colleagues here in Ibec to share with us what International Women's Day means to them:

Aviné McNally, Head of Membership
"For me International Women’s Day is an opportunity to recognise and remember the great achievements made by many women over the years across various aspects of our economic, political, social and cultural lives. It reminds us of the role we all play in making life better for the next generation. It is also a day to reflect that in other parts of the world many girls and women do not have the same freedoms that we have."

Aisling McNiffe, Senior Executive, Financial Services Ireland
“For me, International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate women, to take stock of what we’ve done over the past year and to be inspired to do more over the next 12 months! During Covid, myself, my colleague Louise Kelly here in Ibec and Marian McCarville of Banking and Payments Federation co-developed Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter. We did this with the enormous help of our Financial Services Ireland members here in Ibec and Government, other trade associations and the ESRI, our data partner. I remember there were 48 people, mostly women, on a Teams call during Covid, drafting this Charter! This IWD we will celebrate our second year of financial services companies reporting on progress against their targets. The FSI team will meet our Belgian counterparts to learn more about what they do and to share our own experience. I find now that IWD has nearly expanded into a week This March, I’ll be speaking about the Charter to one of our member companies, and learning from them how they have made changes. I’m also looking forward to Ibec’s own IWD celebration, which is always thought provoking and makes me feel part of a bigger community.”

Shane Lyster, Head of Public Sector
“Ibec is very proud to support and represent a membership community of entrepreneurs, business executives and public sector leaders which is increasingly female. Fostering a more inclusive environment for female participation and leadership empowers not only families and workplaces, but also enriches our communities and wider society. International Women’s Day 2024 is an opportunity to mark and celebrate our collective progress in enhancing gender equality across the Irish employment landscape and feel inspired about the continued work ahead.”

Samantha Owens, Social Policy Executive
International Women's Day signifies celebrating the progress made in advancing gender equality, acknowledging the contributions of women, and focusing on the ongoing efforts required to achieve further milestones. Notable strides in Ireland include a 21-percentage point increase in women serving on the boards of listed companies over the past five years, surpassing initial targets and positioning Ireland among the top 10 EU member states for gender representation. While commendable progress has been made, there's a need to sustain momentum, particularly in achieving gender representation targets for leadership teams. International Women's Day serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of gender equality in all aspects of life, emphasising the strategic value of investing in women's empowerment for companies aiming to accelerate progress and contribute to sustainable economic growth.

Here's a timeline of some key events in the history of International Women's Day

1911: First International Women's Day 
The first official International Women's Day was celebrated on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. More than one million men and women participated in rallies advocating for women's rights. 

1977: United Nations Recognition 
The United Nations officially recognized March 8 as International Women's Day, emphasising the importance of gender equality and women's rights on a global scale. 

1996: Theme Adoption 
The United Nations began adopting annual themes for International Women's Day, addressing specific issues and challenges faced by women worldwide. 

2011: Centenary of International Women's Day 
The centenary of International Women's Day was widely celebrated with events, discussions, and initiatives focusing on gender equality and women's empowerment. 

2011 and Beyond: Ongoing Advocacy 
International Women's Day remains a crucial platform for advocacy and awareness, addressing issues such as gender-based violence, workplace equality, and women's representation in leadership roles. 

This International Women's Day, let us celebrate the strength, resilience, and diversity of women everywhere. Together, let us inspire inclusion and pave the way for a brighter, more inclusive future for all. Happy International Women's Day!

Conor Gibbons
Executive
Ibec Networks