‘Empowering Women in the Maritime Community’ will be the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) World Maritime Day theme for 2019.
IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim proposed the theme, which received endorsement at an IMO meeting in London, to raise awareness of gender equality and highlight the increasing contribution made by women in the maritime sector.
The IMO will also renew its commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, a UN initiative to ‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’.
Its aim is to end the root causes of gender discrimination and achieve equality by 2030.This movement has been the driving force behind the IMO establishing seven regional associations for women in the maritime sector across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands.
Speaking on the SDGs, Secretary-General Lim said:
“This theme will give IMO the opportunity to work with various maritime stakeholders towards achieving the SDGs, particularly SDG 5, to foster an environment in which women are identified and selected for career development opportunities in maritime administrations, ports and maritime training institutes and to encourage more conversation for gender equality in the maritime space.”
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