Abuja, 13 March, 2025 – On 7 March 2025, the WHO Nigeria places of work buzzed with vitality as workers joined the worldwide celebration of Worldwide Ladies’s Day (IWD). The event supplied a significant alternative to honour the feminine workforce at WHO Nigeria and reaffirm the group’s dedication to gender equality and empowerment as important drivers of well being for all. 
This 12 months’s IWD theme, “For all girls and ladies; proper, equality, empowerment #AccelerateAction,” resonated deeply with WHO’s mission to make sure equitable entry to high quality healthcare, significantly for ladies and ladies. The day was marked by a collection of occasions highlighting the pivotal function of ladies in healthcare and the distinctive challenges they face in advancing well being fairness.

Recognizing Ladies’s Contributions
In his tackle to workers, Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO Nation Consultant in Nigeria, celebrated the exceptional contributions of ladies inside WHO and the broader well being sector. “Worldwide Ladies’s Day is a second to recognise the invaluable contributions of ladies throughout all elements of society,” he stated. “As we have a good time the achievements of ladies in WHO and the well being sector, we should additionally acknowledge the work that continues to be and decide to making a extra inclusive, equitable, and supportive surroundings for ladies.”

Dr Mulombo emphasised WHO’s dedication to fostering workplaces and communities the place girls’s voices are amplified, and their potential absolutely realised. “Investing in girls’s well being and empowerment will not be solely a matter of fairness however a basic prerequisite for constructing more healthy and extra affluent societies. To all the ladies main, innovating, and driving change, we see you, hear you, and stand with you to speed up motion,” he added.

Voices of Empowerment
Dr Lynda Ozor, President of the WHO Nigeria Employees Affiliation and a passionate advocate for gender fairness, shared her reflections on the importance of IWD. “Ladies are the true architects of society,” she remarked. “I encourage girls to face with and for one another. We must always see ourselves as collaborators, not rivals. These of us who’re empowered should function ladders to encourage and uplift the following era of ladies.”

The day additionally featured private tales from feminine workers members, who shared their experiences of working in well being and emergency settings. Mrs. Saratu Ayuba, a workers member at WHO’s Northeast Emergency Area Workplace in Borno State, highlighted the significance of reflection and motion. “Worldwide Ladies’s Day is a time for everybody to replicate, help, and act towards a extra equal world,” she stated. “We should stand in opposition to inequality, name out discrimination, and create areas the place girls really feel valued and heard.”

A Collective Dedication
The occasions included discussions, panel discussions, storytelling periods, and interactive boards the place workers explored the challenges and alternatives for advancing gender equality in well being. These actions underscored WHO Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to deal with systemic boundaries, corresponding to gender-based discrimination and unequal entry to alternatives, that impression girls’s contributions to well being methods.

The observance of IWD serves as a robust reminder of the collective accountability to make sure that each lady and woman can realise her full potential. By empowering girls, WHO Nigeria contributes to stronger, more healthy, and extra resilient communities, an important step towards attaining well being for all.

Transferring Ahead
WHO Nigeria stays dedicated to integrating gender equality into its programmes and operations . This consists of advocating for ladies’s management in well being, addressing gender particular well being wants, and supporting insurance policies that promote fairness. As a part of its international and regional methods, WHO continues to champion initiatives just like the Gender, Fairness, and Human Rights framework  to speed up progress towards a extra inclusive well being panorama.

The celebration of Worldwide Ladies’s Day at WHO Nigeria was not only a second of recognition however a renewed name to motion. Collectively, workers reaffirmed their dedication to constructing a future the place girls and ladies thrive, lead, and contribute absolutely to the well being and prosperity of communities worldwide.