Message from AfricaRice on the occasion of the International Women's Day 2023

The International Women’s Day is about giving women a voice. By paying attention to the wise words of influential women, you empower more women to speak up and share their influences. Sharing quotes from famous women reminds people of all that women have achieved in the past, and what they might accomplish in the future. Achieve your own, write your own!!! Happy International Women's Day 2023!

The theme of this year’s celebration is DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.

How does AfricaRice contribute to Innovation and technology for gender equality

In Sub Saharan Africa in general, women are negatively affected by socio-cultural constraints. During the monitoring and evaluation process in Nigeria in 2017-2018, several female farmers’ groups nominated female service providers to enhance female farmers’ adoption of guidelines generated by RiceAdvice. The “Sustainable and Diversified Rice-based Farming Systems” project under the EU/IFAD-funded initiative on “Putting Research into Use for Nutrition, Sustainable Agriculture and Resilience” (PRUNSAR) trained 150 women service providers in Nigeria and Senegal over 4 years (2019-2022) in the use of RiceAdvice. From these service providers, guidelines generated by “RiceAdvice” together with basic good agricultural practices (GAPs) were disseminated to a total of 7,361 women farmers. For more information, visit the link.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2020.1770699

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajae.12151

What are International Women's Day quotes?

International Women’s Day quotes are sayings that champion gender equality and women’s empowerment. Many of these quotes are by famous female writers, politicians, and celebrities. However, these quotes can be by men too. These quotes speak about women’s abilities, potential, and strength.

We want to share some of them with our colleagues:

• “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

• “Feminism isn’t about making women strong. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” –G.D. Anderson

• “Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.” – Serena Williams

• “Empowering women isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.” -Barack Obama

• “There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.” –William E.B. Dubois

• “There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” –Michelle Obama

• “Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity.” –Mahatma Gandhi

• “A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.” –Melinda Gates

• “Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry.” –Gloria Steinem

• “Cinderella never asked for a prince. She asked for a night off and a dress.” –Kiera Cass

• “I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life.” –Maya Angelou

• “Extremists have shown what frightens them most. A girl with a book.” –Malala Yousafzai.

• “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

• “I don’t like to gamble, but if there’s one thing, I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself.” –Beyoncé Knowles

There are many other famous messages that speak of women’s capabilities. These were just some we wanted to share with you! These quotes provide a shining example of gender equality and female empowerment. Though most of the speakers are women, there are also many men, who have advocated for equal rights and opportunities. So, we take this opportunity to thank our male colleagues for all their support and commitment.

At AfricaRice, we value our women staff and recognize the importance of increasing women’s participation in our Center. For this, we have put in place mechanisms to attract and retain talented women both from the research and research support sections. One splendid example of this is the recent promotion of three women out of the 4 members from the General Support Staff (GSS) to the Internationally Recruited Staff (IRS) category in recognition of their remarkable accomplishments: Ms Maïmouna Diatta, Drs Esther Pegalepo, and Fatimata Bachabi. Each of you is an inspiration to us and we take this opportunity to congratulate you on your well-deserved success, which is particularly timely as we celebrate the International Day of Women 2023!

Wishing a lovely International Women's Day to you!

Visit the CGIAR Gender Platform https://gender.cgiar.org/events/international-womens-day-2023