IMO TC 72: INCREASING THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN IN THE MARITIME SECTOR

During the 72nd Session of the Committee on Technical Cooperation, our Member country Panama presented to the Committee document TC 72/9/3, which describes how the adoption of the International Maritime Women's Day has positively impacted the increased participation of women in the maritime industry and along with this, proposes to consider the adoption of an IMO Gender Equality Award.

The attendees took note of the results of the IMO-WISTA survey on women working in the maritime sector conducted last year (2021) which revealed that 29% of the sector's workforce are women, and in National Maritime Authorities they represent only 20%.

In addition, the report highlighted, that women seafarers constitute only 2% of the crew workforce, indicating that they still represent a small proportion of the sector.

As such, the challenges to achieve gender equality remain many. Considering the above data, it was suggested during the meeting that IMO could adopt new initiatives to continue working on gender equality in the maritime sector, ensuring an equitable and inclusive sector for all women and men in the coming years.

Attendees also recognized the extraordinary work that the International Maritime Organization has been doing through the gender program, however, much remains to be done. One of the ideas that gained momentum during the meeting was to explore the possibility of giving international recognition to those individuals (regardless of gender) who contribute significantly to the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women in the maritime sector through the granting of an annual award.

Accordingly, it is intended to submit a proposal, including the terms of reference for the adoption of the Gender Equality Award, to the IMO Council at its 128th session to be held between November 28 and December 2 of this year.

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