THE Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) joins the international community as it celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD) 2015. As the world simultaneously honours the accomplishments of women and renews its commitment to gender equality, IWD 2015 also marks the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action — the historic roadmap signed by 189 governments that established a clear agenda for realising women’s rights.

One of the great achievements of the Beijing Platform for Action was the clear recognition that women’s rights are human rights. Since that historic gathering in Beijing, when 17,000 participants and 30,000 activists gathered to voice and demonstrate their support for gender equality and women’s empowerment, there has been increasing recognition that gender equality is also critical to securing sustainable development. The international community can justifiably celebrate the accomplishments including the successes recorded by the Millennium Development Framework and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), three of which spoke directly to the situation of women and girls.

However, serious gaps persist between the stated objectives of the international frameworks designed for the complete integration of women into global society and the lived realities of many women and girls across the globe. Violence against women, unequal access to public goods and participation in governance, as well as challenges related to sexual reproductive health remain stark realities on the global landscape.

The IGDS joins the international community in the commemoration of International Women’s Day 2015 and renews its own commitment, through its programme of research, teaching and advocacy, to create a global community in which women’s rights are human rights and where equality for women is a conduit for progress for all.

Moreover, the IGDS advocates that the post-2015 development agenda must simultaneously be about creating equality of opportunities for women and the re-engineering of social structures and systems that allows for equitable outcomes for men and women.

The IGDS endorses and echoes the sentiments of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who notes in his message for IWD 2015 that “when we unleash the power of women, we can secure the future for all”.

The theme of this year’s observance of IWD ‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!’ reminds us that women and girls must be free to picture a world in which there is no violence against women or girls in the home, at work or sanctioned by the State. A world in which, despite perceived educational advantages, educational outcomes get translated into labour market participation for women and girls, who remain disproportionately represented among the unemployed.

Women and girls must be free to picture a world in which the expected and accepted division of labour in the household does not compromise their ability to excel outside the home; where they are active participants in all levels of governance and where their sexual reproductive health choices are respected.

Women and girls must be free to focus their lenses on a world in which the multiple forms of discrimination against women and girls, including racial discrimination, are a thing of the past.

Such a picture would certainly be worth more than a thousand words.

— SMC