Today is International Women's Day.

I have seen lots of posts on Facebook this morning from awareness raising to concrete action, organizations rally to pledge support to help forge gender parity on International Women’s Day (IWD) and beyond.

The World Economic Forum predicts the gender gap won't close entirely until 2186. Around the world, IWD can be an important catalyst and vehicle for driving greater change for women and moving closer to gender parity. Content marketing agency Axonn Media surveyed 108 parents on their working life and its seems that being a mum still presents greater professional challenges than being a Dad, even in 2017.

I was shocked to read that research from its Gender in Marketing 2017 report reveals that 62% of Mums said that parenthood hampered their career, compared to just to 24% of Dads. 

As a woman who delights in working flexibly around my children, I am frustrated to read that 1 in 10 mums said parenthood has significantly had a negative effect on their career, when working mums are some of the most hardworking and dedicated colleagues I know. 

So if you can do anything today, use International Women's Day (IWD) as an important opportunity to:

• celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women because visibility and awareness help drive positive change for women
• declare bold actions you'll take as an individual or organization to help progress the gender agenda because purposeful action can accelerate gender parity across the world

 #BeBoldForChange

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