Women in Rotary – International Women’s Day 2020
Congratulations to Women in Rotary for hosting the 9th International Women’s Day Breakfast this year.
This is a special occasion to celebrate progress in achieving gender equality, to reflect upon where we have come from and how far we have to go. We celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women, who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.
On International Women’s Day we remember the power of women’s voices and our collective strength in demanding the right to work, to equal pay and fair working conditions, to hold public office and to vote, leading to the first celebration of IWD in 1911.
Equality is a fundamental human right, the promise of the UN Declaration and the aspiration of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
And yet we know women and girls face inequality throughout their lives including physical and sexual violence at alarming rates at home and at work. They face challenges accessing education, health care, childcare, working conditions and restrictions in their leadership and participation in public and political office and the private sphere.
The Bridge of Hope is committed to supporting vulnerable young women as they leave Out of Home Care.
I congratulate Women in Rotary on your milestone achievements and the dedicated endeavour of your committee and the Rotary family. You have worked hard to enhance the role of women in workplaces and to support charities making a difference in the lives of women, children and men.
We must continue the work it matters. It matters to our colleagues, our friends, our mothers and daughters. It matters to the daughters and sons of a future we might imagine.
I wish you all the very best for this Women in Rotary’s International Women’s Day Breakfast.
Fiona McLeod AO, S.C.
Patron, Bridge of Hope Foundation Inc.