WMO celebrates International Women's Day

The WMO community joins the United Nations in celebrating International Women’s Day. The theme this year is  “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. 

It celebrates the contributions of the women and girls committed to building gender-responsive innovations and advancing innovation and digital technology.

"Technology can expand pathways to education and opportunities for women and girls," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “Today, women make up under a third of the workforce in science, technology, engineering, and maths."

"And when women are under-represented in developing new technologies, discrimination may be baked in from the start. That is why we must close the digital divide and increase the representation of women and girls in science and technology, " he said.

WMO is walking the talk. It is working to attract more women to senior positions both in the Secretariat and on its constituent bodies as part of its Gender Action Plan, which is a road map to operationalize the WMO Gender Equality Policy.  WMO is also working on attracting young female scientist to join the organisation. 

"We have been lucky to see growing amount of highly qualified women applying for our posts. Our way to future success depends on the commitment and dedication of all genders and our ability to attract talented staff in the future,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

Many WMO projects also have a special gender component. Women are especially vulnerable from climate change impacts. Many bear a disproportionate burden in seeking to secure drinking water supplies. Women and girls often have less access than men to mobile phones – vital for weather forecasts and early warnings.  

“Two of the major focus areas are gender balance and gender-responsive services in relation with gender-responsive weather, hydrological and climate services. The basic ideas of a Gender Action Plan are to recognize both contributions and needs of women, especially in weather, hydrological and climate services, and ensure a gender balance and a gender awareness in all decision-making processes,” said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Dr Elena Manaenkova.

The WMO Gender Action Plan is under review and an updated version will be presented to the World Meteorological Congress in May.

The latest WMO Performance Assessment Report (2020-2021) confirms that WMO is on track towards its target of strengthened leadership capacity of female professionals both in the Secretariat and among Members.

It is also making progress towards its goal to provide equitable access to, interpretation of and use of information and services to women, men and all individuals irrespective of their gender and in particular to those from marginalized groups.

The targeted effort undertaken by the Presidents of the Technical Commissions has paid off in setting up more balanced governance bodies in terms of gender, geographical representation and scientific discipline.

There was an unprecedented surge in the participation of women in leadership (presidents, vice-presidents, chairs, co-chairs) which increased from an average of 31% in 2019 to 39% for the new ones after WMO governance reform in 2021.

Many of the SERCOM and RB standing committees, steering committees and study groups meet or exceed the target of 40 percent  female experts. The rest are generally on track to achieve gender balanced structures.

Women's exclusion from the digital world has shaved an estimated $1 trillion from the GDP of low- and middle-income countries in the last decade — a loss that could grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025 without action, according to UN figures.

The observance at UN headquarters in New York will feature the Mr Guterres, the Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, the President of the 77th Session of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, the Chair of the 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, H.E. Ms. Mathu Joyini, and other eminent panelists. 

The color for International Women’s Day 2023 is blue.

International Womens Day website is here