International Women’s Day – IWD2021

Blog by Sam Smith

The path of progress is not linear, it can feel like we are barely making headway. Occasionally we celebrate taking two steps forward only to concede ground. Sometimes it appears that women’s workload has not lessened merely metamorphosised, taking a different shape though the weight is the same, if not heavier.

This past year has exposed, in stark relief, the inequities that have always been present. Covid-19, the global pandemic, has shone a giant spotlight on the daily struggles played out in the liminal spaces between public and private life, paid work and the domestic sphere. Spaces, not solely but predominantly, occupied by women.

On this International Women’s Day, let’s take this opportunity to commit to corporate, civic and domestic leadership that recognises the invisible work undertaken by women daily. Not just the physical tasks that are easier to measure but are not assigned equal value. Let’s also recognise the social emotional and mental burden women carry. The soft skills they are expected to deploy just to get by, let alone succeed. The diplomacy and appeasement, the amelioration and the peacekeeping that form part of women’s daily life; recognised or not.

Ensuring everything runs to plan, that people are happy, safe and well is noble work. Just imagine what could be achieved if this was truly a shared endeavour.

Sam Smith – C-Change CEO

#IWD2021