International Women’s Day (IWD) will be celebrated worldwide on 8 March 2021. This year’s theme is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, which celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future.

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Women stand at the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, as health care workers, caregivers, innovators, community organizers and as some of the most exemplary and effective national leaders in combating the pandemic. The crisis has highlighted both the centrality of their contributions and the disproportionate burdens that women carry.

Celebrating women’s achievements, as well as raising awareness on gender-based violence, will help forge a gender equal and violence-free world, as we build back and recover from the pandemic.

Promoting women’s leadership and alleviating gender-based violence requires the involvement of multi-disciplinary actors. Coordination among key stakeholders including the government, UN agencies, international and national NGOs, civil society organizations, women rights activists, media agencies is crucial.

To expedite this effort, and to build coalition and support on International Women’s Day, the Department of Women Affairs (DWA) of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), together with the Dhaka Tribune, are jointly organizing a Café Talk Show, titled ‘Act Now for an Equal Tomorrow’ with the support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The event aims to bring multi-sector perspectives and views under one roof to emphasize the need for unified and immediate action to ensure an equal world, free of violence against women and girls.

The talk show will feature prominent speakers, as well as different creative performances including recitation, music and dance on the theme. It will be held in at BRAC Centre Inn, Conference Hall at 3 to 4 PM with a small gathering, and an edited version of the event will be shared on Facebook for wider reach. The event will include pre-publicity, as well as event coverage in the Dhaka Tribune and other news media on the following day.