My links to BPW go back to 1986, when I received one of three bursaries given to girls in Grade 9 attending Maryborough high schools.
This bursary made a huge difference to my schooling and my family. By that time, my adopted mother was a single mother, her marriage irrevocably broken, and on the age pension. Not having to worry about stationery, textbooks, uniforms and shoes meant I could focus on my schooling, and I continued to excel at school in Years 9 and 10.
It wasn’t until I was widowed in 2019, and during that first torrid year of Covid-19, that I sought connections. I had the idea to see if BPW was still a thing, and I was overjoyed to see that they were. I joined online very quickly, and in July 2020, attended my first lunch meeting with my closest BPW club.
BPW has a long, international history, and I still feel so proud to be a part, albeit a very small part, of BPW International.
Back in October 2023, BPW Australia issued a press release about the International Women’s Day theme for 2024:
COUNT HER IN
Accelerating gender equality through economic empowerment as a means to realising women’s rights and gender equality globally.
What can we do, in advocacy, to accelerate gender equality through economic empowerment?
It’s about advocating for equal opportunity to education, pathways to employment and to self-employment; is about advocating for equal access to financial literacy and financial services.
How can you communicate this, advocate for this, with your local member, state senators, treasurers state and federal, and the CEOs and directors of the ASX200?
Statement from BPW Australia
IWD 2024 THEME IS “COUNT HER IN”
29 Oct 2023 8:41 AM Jean Murray (Administrator)
UN Women has announced the theme of International Women’s Day 2024: Count Her In: Accelerating gender equality through economic empowerment as a means to realising women’s rights and gender equality globally.
Sam Mostyn AO, Chair of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce and Besa Deda, Chief Economist of Westpac’s Business Bank joined Simone Clarke, CEO of UN Women Australia for the announcement of the International Women’s Day 2024 theme this week. CEO of UN Women Australia Simone Clarke said that it was important for women to be empowered to earn and manage their income and be afforded equal access to finance. Simone stressed the importance of ensuring all women have equal access, capacity and capability to fully participate in the economy. This requires shifting behaviours and perceptions that inhibit economic participation and limit investment in women. Increasing women’s economic empowerment means economies grow, children and families prosper, and women have resources available to leave abusive situations.
In searching online for IWD2024 you may come across another theme: #InspireInclusion. This not the official United Nations theme and it isn’t clear who is behind this International Women’s Day website
The Auld Skald's Fudgel 