INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

March 8 marks a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. International Women’s Day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality and recognizing the work and value they contribute to the growth of different countries.

In many countries, gender inequality is one of the biggest obstacles to sustainable development, economic growth and poverty reduction. However, Switzerland is listed as one of the UN’sTop-10 government partners.

Switzerland’s contributions to UN Women

Switzerland is recognized as a strong champion of gender equality engaging with Women around issues of equal pay, women’s economic and political empowerment, and ending violence against women and girls.

In words of the UN, Switzerland has prioritized regular resources and has remained consistent, providing a strong financial support that allows UN Women to strengthen functions essential to support delivery of its tripartite mandate. In 2020, Switzerland was UN Women’s third-largest government contributor to regular resources with USD 16.5 million and the seventh-largest government contributor in total with USD 20.6 million. Between 2011 and 2020, the Swiss Government has contributed an aggregate amount of USD 190 million to UN Women.

Additional commitments and contributions

In addition to Switzerland’s commitment and contributions to the UN Women, several initiatives support gender equality and empower all women and girls. Some examples worth mentioning on a National and local level are:

The 5^th Goal of the Agenda 2030 of Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Goal 5 advocates equal opportunities for men and women in economic life, the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, the elimination of early and forced marriage, and equal participation at all levels.

The Female Founders aims to significantly increase the number of female founders in Switzerland. Their map provides transparency in the sector and portrays great female role models in the startup ecosystem. By portraying these role models, they intend to inspire women to become entrepreneurs themselves.

Femtrepreneurs is an initiative of the University of Basel’s innovation office, in collaboration with four other organizations (Impact Hub, WeHub India, HBA and womenmatters). The initiative promotes female entrepreneurship and enables women to found their business. FEMtrepreneurs are female entrepreneurs and women holding leadership positions in organizations.

Thrive With Mentoring and Impact Hub Basel launched EmpowHER, a six-month program for early-stage female founders. EmpowHER supports early-stage impact-driven founders with the knowledge, skills, and personal development to drive societal change and promote sustainable female-founded ventures in the Basel region and beyond.

At Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, we join this celebration recognizing today the great ecosystem of women entrepreneurs and holding leadership positions in our ecosystem.