At its 50th anniversary conference held last week in Limassol, Cyprus, WISTA International celebrated five decades of progress in advancing the role of women in the global maritime industry. The world’s largest networking association for women in this industry now includes 5,200 members and 62 national associations with the latest additions of China, Honduras and Costa Rica.
Cyprus’ Shipping Deputy Minister Cyprus Marina Hadjimanolis hailed WISTA as “a force of passionate and dynamic women, working tirelessly for gender equality and the global empowerment of women in shipping.”
In a keynote speech, IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez urged the shipping industry to embrace change, and highlighted his personal decision – a highly applauded gesture – to speak only on conference panels where both women and men are represented.
Recalling that the creation of WISTA International was launched on December 2, in London, 50 years ago, Mr. Dominguez noted that women always had a role to play, but it was men who did not allow them to do so. He stressed that “today we are here to support you at the highest level and that will not stop”.
While much progress has been made, he indicated there was still much to be done to achieve the goal of full gender equality by 2030, pointing out that just at the recent UN General Assembly, less than 10% of the keynote speakers were women.
Mr. Dominguez referred to the theme of the conference, Excellence in maritime and international trade driven by innovation, commenting that shipping is all about change and introducing innovation to help reduce human error, reduce costs and improve efficiency.
For her part, re-elected WISTA President Elpi Petraki from Greece announced that the organization will be broadening the scope of its mission this year, and will continue to “foster environments that uphold” (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as it promotes “sustainable shipping for the sake of future generations.”
During the October 9-11 conference, the association formally launched a new “equity fund” to support members in countries affected by financial and economic challenges.
(Photo from WISTA International)
