There were so many different online events to choose from for this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) – it became a nice problem to have! One event I chose was the podcast from The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership chaired by Julia Gillard.

It was fantastically thought-provoking, with recent research from Ipsos Mori across 28 countries highlighting how the events of 2020 had shone a light on many inequalities, and how there is the strong possibility that the inequality gap might widen as a result. Panellists spoke of a strong sense that the pressures and challenges posed by Covid-19 on professional and personal lives had ‘put the clock back’ on many equality issues. This is of significant concern.

One strong message from this podcast was that, to prevent a ‘slide’ back, the recovery programme for countries, economies and organisations must keep gender equality not just firmly on the agenda but raise it up the list of priorities. Much has been achieved, but there is considerably more to be done, much more so than IWD just a year ago in March 2020 could have predicted.

A positive to emerge from the research was how there is an increased sense of community – of women supporting women, of solidarity, of allyship in general. I’ve observed this myself across the diverse organisations I work with and the priorities of the L&D network I’m part of. It’s a topic that’s often part of our Talent Forum conversations – in itself a brilliant example of a supportive community. People tell us just how invaluable they find this forum to discuss a variety of topics and share both challenges and best practice.  

The challenge is now to increase the influence of these communities, to keep the conversation going and not to settle for anything less than an equal society. We can and should all play a part in this. As a professional woman with two daughters, I too want my voice to be heard.