Each March, women are showered in cupcakes, spoken at about themes, and pushed to pose for social media photos, but the true meaning of International Women’s Day runs deeper.<\/p>\n
Opening conversations and recognising how individuals can mobilise to improve the lives of women and girls needs to come first.<\/p>\n
Amy Waters said the heart of International Women’s Day is to drive change and open conversations about how everyone can improve the lives and wellbeing of women.<\/p>\n
The Geelong Community Foundation chief executive said it is important to celebrate the improvement in women’s rights and treatment while also acknowledging there is a way to go.<\/p>\n
“We have come so far as a society, we’ve made a lot of progress, however women and girls as still facing significant inequality,” Waters said.<\/p>\n
“International Women’s Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on what responsibility we carry into the year ahead to address that inequality.”<\/p>\n
For Waters, International Women’s Day isn’t just for women, it’s for the whole community. Uplifting women has positive ripple effects that are felt across the whole community.<\/p>\n
So, when choosing to celebrate International Women’s Day, it’s easy to see why themes have become so sticky.<\/p>\n
In 2026, the United Nations’ theme is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”, UN Women Australia says “Balance the Scales”, and International Women’s Day \u2013 run by a London firm \u2013 is encouraging women to “Give to Gain”.<\/p>\n
These conflicting themes can lead to confusion for well-meaning individuals and organisations.<\/p>\n
Waters encouraged using these themes as a base point to evaluate how you can actively participate in improving women’s experiences, rather than stressing about which one to adhere to.<\/p>\n
She encouraged organisations specifically to lean into themes that align well with their work.<\/p>\n
“Importantly, there’s no right or wrong theme,” Waters said.<\/p>\n
“What a theme does is help to focus attention on a specific issue. It’s not saying that issue is more important than other issues.<\/p>\n
“There’s room for a lot of different themes if we treat them as a focal point for attention to create some discussion and change behaviours.”<\/p>\n
Waters said the themes she has seen this year do well to focus attention to where people can create meaningful change, avoiding the overwhelm of trying to look at inequality broadly.<\/p>\n
“If we’re looking at the ‘Rights. Justice. Action.’ theme, that’s really looking at systemic and legal fairness,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Balancing the Scales is really highlighting access and inclusion, and thinking about how we can turn that belief that girls and women should have these opportunities into behaviours.<\/p>\n
“Give to Gain recognises that there are a lot of different powerful and equally meaningful ways that people can contribute to gender equality.”<\/p>\n
Waters encouraged the Geelong community to support women not just this weekend but year-round, urging people to consider the different ways they can contribute to organisations and resources supporting women and girls \u2013 whether by volunteering, sharing expertise and networks, or contributing financially.<\/p>\n
International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Each March, women are showered in cupcakes, spoken at about themes, and pushed to pose for social media photos, but the true meaning of International Women’s Day runs deeper. Opening conversations and recognising how individuals can mobilise to improve the lives of women and girls needs to come first. Amy Waters said the heart of […]<\/p>\n