IMO and WISTA International launch first Women in Maritime Survey
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA International) have launched a Women in Maritime survey to examine the proportion and distribution of women working in the maritime sector, from support roles to executive level positions.
The survey is part of a series of activities aimed at laying the groundwork for further discussions on how to build a more diverse workforce within the maritime sector. The data obtained by the survey will help build a picture of diversity and gender equality in the industry.
“Diversity in maritime matters,” says IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim. “Empowering women fuels thriving economies across the world, spurs growth and development, and benefits everyone working in the global maritime community and beyond. We need solid data on female participation, as this will enable us to track and quantify our ambitions in what has traditionally been a male-dominated sector. I am pleased to invite all member states and maritime stakeholders to take part in this important survey.”
Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, WISTA’s president says: ”Having comparable data is a key component when creating programmes and proposing policies that will increase the participation of women in maritime. It is an essential step forward in creating a more diverse and inclusive environment in our sector. With our global reach we can amplify the strength of this survey to show real results and back our drive towards an inclusive maritime sector.”
Other initiatives under the IMO-WISTA collaboration include developing a database of female experts in a wide range of maritime subjects who are available for speaking engagements. This will contribute towards more diverse panels.
More survey details are online.
