Happy International Women’s Day!

Today is International Women’s Day. The UN theme this year is Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress and that’s one we can really get behind.

As a social investor, we see – daily – the power of investment to drive real change, at a local and national scale. We know that only when all members of a community are involved in driving change, can change come for all.

The UN suggests five key areas for change under the ‘Invest in Women’ header. We will be incorporating these ideas into our Equalities work and planning.

  • Investing in women, a human rights issue: Time is running out. An additional $360 billion is needed per year to achieve gender equality. Closing gender gaps in employment could boost GDP per capita by 20 per cent.
  • Ending poverty: Due to the COVID pandemic and conflicts, 75 million more people have fallen into severe poverty since 2020. Immediate action is crucial to prevent over 342 million women and girls living in poverty by 2030.
  • Implementing gender-responsive financing: Conflicts and rising prices may lead 75% of countries to cut public spending by 2025, negatively impacting women and their essential services. In the UK right now we are seeing cash strapped local councils cut funding to women’s services.
  • Shifting to a green economy and care society: The current economic system disproportionately affects women. Advocates propose a shift to a green economy and care society to amplify women’s voices. Closing gaps in care and expanding services with decent jobs could spark almost 300 million jobs by 2035.
  • Supporting feminist change-makers: Despite leading efforts, feminist organisations receive only 0.13% of official development assistance.

Read more about the UN International Women’s Day here, meet 18 women who changed the world here, and meet some of the incredible women who have been part of our story over the last fifty years – Dame Pauline Green, Theodora Hadjimichael, Margaret Trotter, Jo White, our own Anne Wilks and our current Board Members Nankunda, Jaye, Dominica, Maggie and Ruth.