Today (March 8) marks International Women’s Day — an annual opportunity to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of women in our community.
This year, the United Nations set the theme for the day as “Changing Climates: Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow.â€
"When women’s voices are included, they demonstrate how to navigate opportunities and constraints, empower themselves and become effective, strong leaders for climate adaptation and mitigation," wrote Dal's Theresa Rajack-Talley, vice-provost equity and inclusion, Alice Aiken, vice-president research and innovation and Gitta Kulczycki, vice-president finance and administration, in a memo to the university community Tuesday.
At Dal, Human Rights and Equity Services has once again extended its celebration and community programming to an entire week (March 8-13) and added its own theme, "Feminist Connections."
This year, as communities around the world celebrate International Women’s Day more than 100 years after its establishment, HRES encourages everyone to make a pledge: to not only work to promote gender equality, but actively support an inclusive and sustainable environment.
Leadership, self-care, community connection
To launch off the week locally, the Halifax Regional Municipality is holding a virtual talk in partnership with the Halifax Central Library. The keynote speaker is Natteale Battiste, a member Acadia’s First Nation’s council.
The week continues with a workshop on spoken word hosted by artist and author Guyleigh on Wednesday evening and a panel on Thursday night discussing feminists in leadership. Panelists include poet El Jones, Dal’s director of Indigenous community engagement Cathy Martin, MLA Susan Leblanc and Madeleine Stinson, Â鶹´«Ã½'s Student Union president.
On Friday morning, a virtual workshop on self-care is offerd by BlueNile Massage Therapy. In the evening, a virtual paint night hosted by the HRES Peer Educator team.
Programming finishes over the weekend with a boardgame night at the Boardroom Café on Saturday Night a virtual yoga class on Sunday.
For a full list of details about this year's programming, visit HRES on the web.