International Women's Day 2012 - Supporting Women's Economic Empowerment

UN Women Australia’s theme for International Women’s Day 2012 is Women’s Economic Empowerment.

Economic Empowerment recognises that increasing women's access to quality education, meaningful employment, land and other resources contributes positively to gender inclusion, sustainable development and growth in prosperity.

Across the globe, 70 per cent of the world's poor are women, women earn less than 10 per cent of the world’s wages – but, women do more than two thirds of the world’s work. On average women reinvest 90 per cent of their income into their families while men invest only 30-40 per cent.
In Australia alone, closing the gap between female and male employment will boost Australia’s GDP by 11 per cent.

International Women’s Day 2012 is about celebrating the vital role women play in enhancing economic prosperity in their families, communities and countries while recognising that significant barriers to achieving women’s economic security and equality continue to exist.

Barriers to women's economic security
The significant barriers to women’s economic security include;
• Workforce participation and representation:  in the informal sector, women lack basic rights and job security; in the formal sector, they experience discrimination and occupy few management positions.
• Pay equity: despite doing the majority of the world’s work, women across the world earn on average between 10 and 30 per cent less than men.
• Financial independence: women’s economic security is reduced by a lack of access to resources, decision-making and business and land ownership.
• Access to land: new land titling rights for women have been hampered by traditional courts, cultural norms and a lack of information available to women.
• An unequal share of childcare responsibilities: traditional gender roles not only limit women’s ability to participate equally with men at work but also limit men’s share of child care duties.

Partners Improving Markets program
This International Women's Day UN Women Australia is focusing its fundraising efforts on supporting the Partners Improving Markets program, which is working to make marketplaces safe for women in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. For more information on the Partners Improving Market program visit our Project Page.

Lend your support
You can lend your support to this year’s campaign by donating, buying a purple ribbon, hosting a fundraising event, or attending one of UN Women Australia’s International Women’s Day events across Australia. For events information click here.

We encourage everyone to join their friends, families and colleagues and support International Women's Day 2012.

Read more about women's economic empowerment on the IWD 2012 Fact Sheet available here.