For International Women's Day on March 8, Almas Jiwani Calls Upon our Federal and Provincial/Territorial Governments to Take Action to Address Gender Inequality

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 2, 2015) - Almas Jiwani, President of the UN Women National Committee Canada, advocates for more concrete actions from all levels of government to combat gender inequality.

"Even in a progressive country like Canada, the struggle for gender equality is not complete," Ms. Jiwani said. "It's why UN Women launched the HeForShe campaign and the IMPACT 10X10X10 initiative. We need cooperation from the government, corporations, universities, and community organizations to bring about more positive change. We need men to work with women in putting an end to inequality. Where there is inequality no one wins."

"International Women's Day is a time where we can look back at all we've accomplished, and look forward to all we still can achieve," Almas Jiwani continued. "One way that Canadian governments can take concrete steps towards greater gender equality is through the IMPACT 10X10X10 initiative, which seeks to empower women within the halls of power of their own countries."

Last fall the HeForShe campaign launched in Toronto. The campaign aims to draw support for gender equality from men as well as women. With actor Emma Watson as the campaign's ambassador it has amassed international attention.

This year UN Women are also highlighting the guidelines for equality contained in 1995's Beijing Platform for Action (known as Beijing+20). As we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of this document we have to acknowledge where we are. While progress has been made, no country has completed the agenda. Women earn less than men and are more likely to work in poor-quality jobs. A third suffer physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Help us spread the message of equality in Canada as we celebrate women on International Women's Day March 8.

Social Media: Follow the work of the UN Women National Committee Canada on Twitter @UNWomenCanada, and the search the hashtag #HeForShe and #beijing20 for updates on our ongoing campaigns.

About UN Women's HeForShe and IMPACT 10X10X10 Campaigns:

HeForShe is a solidarity movement for gender equality. Gender equality was at one time a struggle for women by women but now is the time for this to change. A movement is building around the world that sees men taking a stronger stand on equality. Canada currently has over 13,000 men who have committed to furthering gender equality within our country.

IMPACT 10X10X10 aims to add corporations, governments, universities and grassroots organizations into the growing movement of equality. Gender equality benefits everyone. IMPACT 10X10X10 builds on HeForShe as a movement that seeks gender equality advocates in every sphere of influence.

About UN Women National Committee Canada

UN Women National Committee Canada is an independent, non-government organization that supports the mission of UN Women through public awareness initiatives about UN Women and global women's issues, as well as fundraising efforts to support UN Women programmes worldwide.

For more information about UN Women, please visit http://www.unwomencanada.org/