On Wednesday March 8, Senator Deborah O’Neil, Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation and the Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health spoke at a special lunchtime International Women’s Day event at OLMC.
Mercy Girls, Sisters of Mercy and OLMC parents all joined with staff and students to hear Senator O’Neill speak about the need to ‘be bold for change.’
Senator O'Neil encouraged Mercy Girls to "Be bold, back yourself and step forward, if you don’t a bloke will and chances are he is no more qualified to than you."
She also said that its important that we celebrate International Women's Day in 2017 because we still don’t have gender equity: "There are still many fields where women are underrepresented and it’s a waste of talent and capacity – we can do better!"
Principal Stephen Walsh says he is passionate about encouraging the community to embrace the theme for International Women's Day 2017 - #BeBoldForChange: “It’s so important that women are part of decision making especially as they have such an understanding of community needs. Some of the statistics are particularly telling: Globally, only 47% of women have an account at a formal financial institution. Less than 20% of landholders around the world are women. Women make up just 23% of national parliaments worldwide. These need to change and we need to be bold in order to effect that change.”
International Women's Day (IWD) on March 8 is an important opportunity to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women because visibility and awareness help drive positive change for women.