Global Impact: ‘300 years to achieve gender equality’: UN chief issues warning as International Women’s Day highlights ongoing struggles

Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world

In this edition, we look back at Women’s History Month, while the Post’s Women of Our Time conference took place a day before International Women’s Day on March 8

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The gong striking ceremony at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited special market closing ceremony on International Women’s Day. Photo: May Tse

Published: 2:00pm, 3 Apr 2023

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Last month saw the world mark International Women’s Day. The United Nations’ general secretary painted a sobering picture in the lead-up to the day, warning that gender equality would not be achieved for another 300 years if the world continues on the same track.

Antonio Guterres said women’s rights are being “abused, threatened and violated” and previous progress is starting to vanish as “the patriarchy is fighting back”.

In March, the Post held its third edition of the Women of Our Time conference, which put the spotlight on women trailblazers in the Asia-Pacific region and highlighted the challenges they face in their careers across a range of sectors.

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Indonesian women call for protection of domestic workers’ rights on International Women’s Day

The event focused on empowering the future generation of female leaders. Through a number of panels, the conference looked at women in technology, the changing gender balance in the finance industry, digital career possibilities for young women, female entrepreneurship, upskilling and reskilling, and more.

In the region, a JPMorgan survey found that women are ‘miserably’ under-represented in Asia-Pacific businesses. According to those surveyed, only 5.7 per cent of 15,000 private businesses across multiple sectors were led by women or founded by them.