Watch: Kitack Lim Speaks on Empowering Women in Maritime

Published Mar 4, 2019 6:38 PM by The Maritime Executive

IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has delivered a video message on empowering women in the maritime community, the World Maritime Day theme for this year.

The theme provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of gender equality, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG5, and to highlight the important, yet under-utilized, contribution of women within the maritime sector.

Shipping has historically been a male-dominated industry and that tradition runs long and deep. However, the IMO believes that empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurs productivity and growth, and benefits every stakeholder in the global maritime community. Through its Women in Maritime gender equality and capacity-building program the IMO encourages its member states to enable women to train alongside men in their maritime institutes and so acquire the high-level of competence that the maritime industry demands.