A group of women posing with blue working uniforms
Nursery experts and beneficiaries of a UN Women project in El Salvador, where they work in an experimental nursery so they can grow their own crops.
Photo:UN Women Americas and the Caribbean

Invest in women: Accelerate progress

Achieving gender equality and women’s well-being in all aspects of life is more crucial than ever if we want to create prosperous economies and a healthy planet. However, we are facing a key challenge: the alarming $360 billion annual deficit in gender-equality measures by 2030.

Join us on March 8, 2024, for International Women’s Day under the theme 'Invest in women: Accelerate progress”, and take a stand with us using the hashtag #InvestInWomen.

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Take a stand with us using the hashtag #InvestInWomen

The official website of UN Women is the meeting point to mobilize, contribute, read stories, and find material to spread the message through social networks.

Stories

 

Here are five key areas needing joint action:

  • Investing in women, a human rights issue: Time is running out. Gender equality is the greatest human rights challenge, benefiting everyone.
  • Ending poverty: Due to the COVID pandemic and conflicts, 75 million more people have fallen into severe poverty since 2020. Immediate action is crucial to prevent over 342 million women and girls living in poverty by 2030.
  • Implementing gender-responsive financing: Conflicts and rising prices may lead 75% of countries to cut public spending by 2025, negatively impacting women and their essential services.
  • Shifting to a green economy and care society: The current economic system disproportionately affects women. Advocates propose a shift to a green economy and care society to amplify women's voices.
  • Supporting feminist change-makers: Despite leading efforts, feminist organizations receive only 0.13% of official development assistance.

This International Women’s Day, let’s unite to transform challenges into opportunities and shape a better future for all!

Did you know?

  • In 1984, Australia introduced the world’s first Women’s Budget Statement, paving the way for many others to follow suit.
  • There is an alarming lack of financing with a staggering USD 360 billion annual deficit in spending on gender-equality measures.
  • Just 5% of government aid is focused on tackling violence against women and girls, and less than 0.2% is directed to its prevention.

Events

The Official UN International Women’s Day commemoration will be held in the ECOSOC Chamber and live streamed on 8 March 2024, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am EST.

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Gender-responsive budgeting is a strategy that creates budgets that work for everyone. By considering and analyzing the unique and diverse needs of every person, gender-responsive budgets strive for a fair distribution of resources. 

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The theme for UN Women's Day 2024 is aligned with the demands of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2023: ending gender-based violence through adequate funding. Without ambitious investments to scale-up prevention programmes, implement effective policies, and provide support services to address violence against women and girls, countries will fail to end gender-based violence by 2030.

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International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.