International Women’s Day 2023 is about supporting women from all walks of life and fully #EmbraceEquity. Equity isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. According to the website, the aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.
The words equity and equality are often used interchangeably but the website does a great job visually to reflect the difference. Etymologically, the root word they share is aequus, meaning “even” or “fair” or “equal” – which led to equity being from the Latin aequitas, and equality from aequalitas. Yet, despite these similarities, equity and equality are inherently different concepts, and the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme seeks to help forge worldwide conversation about this important issue and its impact.
International Women’s Day 2023 encourages us all to embrace the inherent difference and take various actions to move from equality to equity. Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
This International Women’s Day 2023 should motivate us to #EmbraceEquity at home with our sons and daughters. It’s not enough to want to change the world if we can’t make the change at home. Our actions should show the next generation that paving the way from equality to equity is about standing for all and that will take all of us!
