On International Women’s Day ICN raises concern about global backlash against gender equality and equal rights for women

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has raised serious concerns about the halting of progress on women’s rights and the backlash against gender equality, which were revealed in a report from the United Nations (UN), published ahead of International Women’s Day, on 8th March.

It is 30 years since the publication of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which endorsed a global agenda for women’s rights. International Women’s Day is an opportunity for celebration of the progress in the rights of women and girls, but the United Nations’ Women's Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing report, reveals a worrying retrenchment of women’s rights, and a significant backlash that is hampering the implementation of critical policies, including those addressing gender-based violence.

The UN reports that despite significant achievements, millions of adolescent girls around the world are not in school, lack access to life-saving health services, and are subject to harmful practices, such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, violence and abuse.

ICN President Dr Pamela Cipriano said: “With women making up 90% of the nursing profession, International Women’s Day is an important opportunity to celebrate our achievements while also calling for continued action toward gender equality. This year’s theme, For All Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment is close to all of our nurses’ hearts.

‘It is clear from this new UN report that we are in danger of seeing all the progress made towards equality over the decades swept away by growing indifference to matters of fairness and opportunities in many parts of the world. Nurses see the direct and indirect effects of such indifference in their everyday interactions with women, men and children. It is heartbreaking to see girls excluded from schools and women denied opportunities for advancement that men take for granted. Further, the recent report from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey Health Institute on closing the women’s health gap reveals that women live 25% more of their lives in poor health compared to men.”

Gender equality is at the centre of all ICN’s work, including support of the education of orphaned daughters of nurses through the ICN Girl Child Education Fund, which is currently working with girls in Eswatini, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Dr Cipriano said, “Investment in nurses and nursing is a sure-fire way of improving girls’ and women’s place in society, because nurses provide the role models that are needed to eradicate outdated stereotypes and ensure that opportunities for progress are visible in every community.”

The theme of the International Women’s Day website, which is separate from the UN, is Accelerate Action. It says it will take until 2158, which is roughly five generations from now, to reach full gender parity, according to data from the World Economic Forum. It has issued a worldwide call to acknowledge strategies, resources, and activity that positively impact women's advancement, and to support and elevate their implementation.

ICN’s Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF)

Since the ICN Girl Child Education Fund (GCEF) was initiated, 420 girls have been enrolled in the programme, which has enabled more than 300 girls to graduate from secondary school. Currently, 80 girls are being supported through this initiative. Enabling each girl to complete their schooling, school fees, uniform, shoes and books, cost approximately 1,500 US Dollars a year. To donate to the GCEF please click here