International Women's Day 2025: initiatives at international level and at the University of Padova
The 8th March 2025 marks International Women's Day, a time of global reflection to reaffirm the commitment to gender equality and the rights of all women and girls worldwide. This year, the theme “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” highlights the urgency of continuing to invest resources to ensure equal opportunities, recognising young women and adolescent girls as key agents of change for a more equitable and inclusive future.
The international community is called upon to take stock of the progress made, while recognising the challenges that remain. These include the strengthening of legal protections, access to essential services and the need to overcome stereotypes and inequalities. With this in mind, the UN calls on governments, businesses, media, community leaders and civil society organisations to implement concrete measures to promote gender equality.
It is also the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: 30 years after its adoption, considerable progress has been made in combating, among others, violence against women, but several critical issues also persist, particularly in the area of women in armed conflicts and the fight against poverty. As emphasised by Prof. Paola Degani - whose interview is quoted here - poverty remains a systemic condition that invalidates women's lives: the issue goes beyond simply combating gender discrimination, highlighting how inequality also derives from a failure to value reproductive work and from a rigid division of roles between men and women. A redistributive approach and a breakdown of traditional gender roles should therefore be used.
At the European level, the FEMM Committee of the European Parliament is organising an inter-parliamentary meeting on Thursday 6 March 2025, which will focus on “Strengthening the agenda on women, peace and security”. The meeting aims to promote women's full participation in decision-making processes in defence, security and peace-building, with an emphasis on protecting women and girls in conflict contexts.
The University of Padova is also committed to stimulating an in-depth reflection on gender equality and mobilising the women's movement against all forms of violence and violation of rights, proposing a Programme of Initiatives 2025 studded with a series of meetings and debates open to citizenship.
As the world prepares to celebrate this day, the message is clear: achieving full equality is a collective responsibility that requires a constant and shared commitment at the global level.