International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements or rally for women's equality.
Marked annually on March 8th, International Women's Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to:
celebrate women's achievements
raise awareness about women's equality
lobby for accelerated gender parity
This years theme highlights the role that innovative, transformative ideas, inclusive technologies and accessible education in the digital age can play in combatting discrimination and marginalisation and so achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, combatting discrimination and the marginalisation of women globally.
To reach a gender equal future, we must crack the cultural, economic, social codes and disrupt entrenched and outdated ideas about the place of women in society.
Speakers
Kirsty Robertson
Kirsty Robertson grew up in Castle Hill, Sydney and attended Loreto Normanhurst, before studying a Bachelor of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney.
She then started her career in aid and development at Caritas Australia. Over the years, she has worked at Anglican Board of Mission, forceten (now Act for Peace), worked as a consultant to the sector and spent five years as CEO of Mary MacKillop Today.
Kirsty has lived, worked and travelled in over 50 countries, including in Adidas Ababa, Ethiopia, working with the development arm of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and at Machermo, a health post in the Gokyo Valley in Nepal, looking into the protection of the rights of porters for the International Porters Protection Agency.
She returned to Caritas Australia in September 2019 to become the first female CEO of the organisation, and describes the appointment as feeling a little like a homecoming.
Throughout her career, Kirsty has been dedicated to tackling big issues like poverty, injustice and inequality, to build a better tomorrow. She is especially dedicated to improving outcomes for women and girls around the world, and she believes that we all have a responsibility to provide support and compassion so that all women can reach their full potential.
Kirsty has a Graduate Certificate in Catholic Culture and Leadership from Australian Catholic University and a Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from Macquarie University. She is a member of the Board of Loreto Normanhurst, the Philanthropy Committee of Loreto Normanhurst and the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council.