Shipping Australia celebrates the inaugural IMO International Day for Women in Maritime, which is held on 18 May 2022. The IMO Assembly adopted a resolution in 2021 proclaiming that the day will be observed on this day every year.
The day celebrates women in the industry and is intended to promote the recruitment, retention, and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen IMO’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and [to] support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.
The inaugural IMO International Day for Women in Maritime on 18 May 2022 will focus on the theme “Training-Visibility-Recognition: supporting a barrier-free working environment”.
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim emphasised the relevance of gender equality in an official statement:
“At IMO, through training, visibility, [and] recognition, we aim to support a barrier-free working environment for Women in Maritime. Let’s work to break down barriers and ensure that we create a work environment that is enabling, supportive and inclusive of diverse participation by all, without hindrance in the maritime community,” he said.
A virtual symposium on “Training-Visibility-Recognition: Supporting a barrier-free working environment for Women in Maritime” will be held on Wednesday 18 May 2022 from 14:00 – 16:30 hrs, British Summer Time (BST).
The symposium will highlight the need for women to be more visible and mainstreamed in the maritime community, on board ships, and throughout the sector as a whole, and more widely in representation at decision-making levels. The symposium will also address skills development for women in the maritime sector.
