IMO sets International Day for Women in Maritime

The IMO Assembly has adopted a resolution proclaiming an International Day for Women in Maritime, to be observed on 18 May every year. 

The day aims to celebrate women in the industry. It is also intended to promote the recruitment and retention of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen the IMO’s commitment to the gender equality and support work to address the current gender imbalance in the maritime industry.

The resolution invites IMO member states, and the maritime industry as a whole, to promote and celebrate the International Day for Women in Maritime in an appropriate and meaningful manner.

The proposal to establish an International Day for Women in Maritime was approved by IMO’s Technical Cooperation Committee in September 2021 and subsequently endorsed by the IMO Council in November 2021.

IMO secretary general Kitack Lim says: “This day for women in maritime will further efforts to achieve gender equality. It is a perfect follow-on action to the 2019 theme of empowering women in maritime and the assembly resolution adopted in 2019. I am pleased that the member states have joined in the call to achieve a barrier-free environment for women, so that all women can participate fully, safely and without hindrance in the activities of the maritime community, including seafaring and shipbuilding.”