International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It is also a call to action to accelerate progress on gender equality. On March 8, #IWD2020 is about collective individualism for action – how each one of us can help raise awareness about issues impacting women’s equality, take a stand to call out inequality, and applaud important gains being made.
This year, #IWD2020 is asking us how we can all support #EachForEqual – all day, every day. On campuses across the country, colleges and institutes spearhead innovative programs and initiatives to help their communities make progress towards a gender equal world. For example, Confederation College’s Women in Trades Pre-Apprenticeship Carpentry program is completely free and encourages women to build careers in the trades, and BCIT’s Trades Discovery for Women programs are designed to prepare women to successfully enter and complete technical training. Similarly, the Cégep de Trois-Rivières recently produced a video highlighting woman in its Electrical Technologies program. NorQuest College’s 1000 Women, A Million Possibilities campaign recently celebrated ten years of providing bursaries to improve access to education for women and NSCC launched a marine bursary program for women and Indigenous Canadians and offers further opportunities through its Women in Entrepreneurship program!
Many colleges and institutes are also involved in our Education for Employment programs abroad, one of the important ways we are working to advance women’s equality. All of these programs aim to help vulnerable populations achieve parity, women in particular. In fact, all EFE programs directly support Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy and are globally contributing to Sustainable Development Goals 5, 4, and 8! EFE projects are currently operating in 15 countries:
- Skills to Access the Green Economy (SAGE) in Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, and Lucia;
- The Kenya EFE Program (KEFEP);
- Skills Training for Employment in Mozambique (STEM);
- The Pacific Alliance EFE Program (PA-EFE) in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru;
- Private Sector Growth Through EFE (PSG-EFE) in Senegal;
- The Improving Skills Training for Employment Program (ISTEP) in Tanzania; and,
- EFE Al-Najah in Tunisia.
To mark IWD, we are thrilled to announce our brand new program in Senegal, Mille femmes: Je suis femme, j’existe, je participe (One Thousand Women: I am woman, I exist, I participate), which will facilitate access to professional and technical training for Senegalese women. The new initiative was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a visit to Senegal and will adapt training to the needs of women working in numerous sectors! Learn more about Education for Employment, skills development, and gender equality in our “Skills Development as a Means to Women’s Empowerment,” report.
Coming up to #IWD2020 let us know what you, your staff, faculty, and students are doing on campus to accelerate gender equality. Share your stories, programs, and initiatives on social media so we can amplify your success!
Women’s equality can’t wait; collectively we all play a part in making gender-equal boardrooms and workplaces, government and media, and thus gender-equal prosperity a reality.