From Words to Action: Building a Future of True Gender Equality

In March, women take centre stage from policy discussions and decisions on women’s issues to celebrating women’s achievements. There is a focused gender lens that speaks about equality, diversity and inclusion, but the challenge lies in the silence that follows the end of March. Women’s issues then take a backseat and their voices and opinions are diluted in the noise of patriarchy where her opinion or decision is not sought in the boardroom, in family matters, in the parliament and in media.

Some facts to consider are:

Only 10% of the world’s heads of state today are women

Women enjoy less than two-thirds of legal rights available to men

Gender pay gap is 20% worldwide

One in three women globally has suffered physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner violence or both.

Every 11 minutes a woman or girl is killed by a member of her own family

800 women die every day worldwide from complications of pregnancy or childbirth

270 million women worldwide have no access to modern contraception

More than 12,000 girls were at risk of genital mutilation every day in 2024

The legal age for marriage is 9 in Iran

In Afghanistan there is a ban on women’s secondary education

60 million girls face sexual assault in schools worldwide

In the United States, the Trump administration moved to reject transgender identity

And in Nepal, we stand at crossroads of theory and practice lagging in terms of meaningful participation and representation in political, social, economic and educational aspects of life.

These numbers hit hard, and they hit loud because at the end of the day equality with exceptions is not equality.

Communication is a powerful force available to humanity. It is what connects us in our homes, at work and in the world. We often ignore the power we wield and the impact we can make if we become more intentional in our words and our action. Maybe next time, we speak to women as men or as women to women, we are more mindful of what we are saying, what we are insinuating, whether we are truly practicing the equality that we so easily speak of. Meaningful change starts with one intention, one person, one group, one community, and the possibilities become endless in how we shape the future and the world.