Starting from 2022, on May 18 each year we will celebrate - by the decision of the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) - International Day for Women in Maritime. It will be an opportunity to highlight the presence of women in the maritime economy!
On the inauguration of the Day, IMO Secretary-General, Mr. Kitack Lim, underlined that the Organization has been supporting gender equality for a few decades through the participation of women in maritime programs and empowering women in the maritime industry through training, visibility and recognition, and creating barrier-free working environment for women in the sector. Hence, this is this year's celebration theme: "Training-Visibility-Recognition: Supporting a barrier-free working environment".
IMO wishes to honor all the women who are contributing to the future of the maritime industry: navigators, engineers, surveyors, CEOs, managers, government and industry representatives, women chairing IMO organs and women in every role in the maritime industry. In addition, the event aims to promote the recruitment, retention and sustainable employment of women in the maritime sector and to support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.
Gender equality is recognized as a key element of a sustainable future and is enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda. IMO encourages the breaking down of barriers and the creation of a working environment that enables, supports and integrates the diverse participation of all, without hindrance, in the maritime community.
It is worth mentioning here that since 2019, in Gdańsk, as part of the project of the Gdańsk Business Incubator STARTER "Women also build ships", workshops are organized to raise the managerial competences of women leaders from the maritime and logistics industry, workshops for school counselors and career advisers, as well as a mentoring program.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is dealing exclusively with maritime affairs, in particular maritime safety, shipping security and the prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships. The Polish Center for Cooperation with IMO was established on June 20, 1967 by then Minister of Shipping. The center was located at the Polish Register of Shipping, where it functions to this day as a Centre for IMO Affairs.
