ICAO HQ, Montréal, 6 March 2020 – ICAO, in cooperation with Airports Council International (ACI), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and other international organizations based near its Headquarters, hosted a special joint event today in celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) which this year falls on Sunday, 8 March.
ICAO Secetary General Dr. Fang Liu welcomed the many guests who attended the Montreal celebration, which were focused around the International Women’s Day 2020 theme of:
“I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.”
“Throughout my professional career, and especially in my current role as ICAO Secretary General, I have strongly advocated for the equal participation of both women and men in international aviation operations and decision-making,” Dr. Liu highlighted.
“But it is now more important than ever to advocate for gender equality, given the opportunities which are presenting themselves due to growth, attrition, and other factors. This is particularly the case in highly-specialized industries like aviation, where women continue to be under-represented.”
In his opening remarks to the Council today in celebration of IWD, the President of the Council, Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano emphasized that “gender equality in our sector is crucial to filling the gap of aviation professionals in the near future.”
In 2016, national governments at ICAO’s 39th Assembly adopted a Resolution supporting the establishment of ICAO’s Gender Equality Programme. This was realized the following year, and in 2018 the agency convened the first ever Global Aviation Gender Summit. Dr.Liu noted that a second such summit is currently being organized by ICAO for this November, in collaboration with Spain.
At ICAO’s 40th Assembly last year, its member States were urged to increase the current momentum toward sectoral gender equality in aviation. Dr. Liu stressed that in order for ICAO to continue playing a key coordination and leadership role in these global efforts, she had just established a new Joint Advisory Group on Gender Equality and Gender Equity.
“It’s my expectation that this new Joint Advisory Group will help both ICAO and its States drive more rapid and aligned progress on the key gender equality targets we’re pursuing, ultimately enhancing it across both ICAO and global aviation,” she said.
Additional insights on the need for continued and determined action on gender equality in aviation were provided by prominent women in aviation including Ms. Angela Gittens, ACI Director General, Ms. Angie Ahmed Abdallah Mostafa Elyazzy, Egypt’s Representative on the ICAO Council, Ms. Maria Saranti, Greece’s Representative on the ICAO Council, Ms. Shefali Juneja, India’s Representative on the ICAO Council, Ms. Thilly De Bodt, Chief of Partnerships & Resource Mobilization for ICAO, and Ms. Niloofar Moradi, Project Engineer at Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Earlier today, and on behalf of all of the current female representatives sitting on the ICAO Council, Representative Elyazzy of Egypt also delivered a strong statement on gender equality during the ICAO Governing Body’s 219th Session.
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A specialized agency of the United Nations, ICAO was created in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation throughout the world. It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security, efficiency, capacity and environmental protection, amongst many other priorities. The Organization serves as the forum for cooperation in all fields of civil aviation among its 193 Member States.
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