Unifem

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

International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8th each year. UN Women Australia’s theme for International Women’s Day 2012 is Women’s Economic Empowerment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. To purchase a ticket to your nearest capital city event click here.

We encourage everyone to join their friends, families and colleagues and support International Women's Day 2012. If you are planning to host an event you can find useful materials on our IWD Resources page

Partners Improving Markets - Making Marketplaces Safe for Women in the Pacific 

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.

Trading in fresh food markets is the only opportunity for many women in the Pacific to participate in the urban economy with women representing 85 per cent of vendors - the majority coming from rural areas.

Women in the Pacific often face unsafe working conditions such as a lack of adequate hygiene facilities and essential infrastructure such as lighting and sewerage, putting them at risk of illness, violence and harassment.

Female vendors are also subjected to aggressive tactics from market managers to obtain taxes, and are continually exposed to bullying, harassment and use of violence by middlemen who buy their produce for resale at unfair prices.

The aims of the Partners Improving Markets program include:

*Empowering women vendors to demand accountability from government through education, dialogue and advocacy training;

*Facilitating the organisation of women vendors' and forums;

*Conducting gender-sensitive training with government leaders and employees; and

*Creating a partnership between local government and women vendors to improve marketplace conditions.

With your support on International Women's Day 2012, together we can raise awareness and increase economic security for women across the Asia Pacific region by helping improve their workplace conditions.

2010 - 2011 Annual Report

Our 2010 - 2011 Annual Report was released on Friday, November 11th at our Annual General Meeting. We encourage you to have a read and see what an incredible year our organisation has had.

Following our Annual General Meeting, we are also pleased to announce that Geraldine Chin-Moody from NSW was re-elected to the National Board. In addition, Anne Bank-McAllister from Western Australia, Jeanette Pastor from the Northern Territory and Sherill Whittington from New South Wales were elected.

As well as our Annual Report, we also launched 'UNIFEM Australia: Our History' documenting the first twenty years of UNIFEM Australia. It has information from how our logo has evolved, to the various International Women's Day guest speakers we have had the privilege of having speak at our International Women's Day events around the country.