Yesterday, March 8th was International Women’s Day in case you missed it. It’s a day aimed at inspiring women, celebrating their achievements and advocating for bigger and better things in the future. This year several Med Tech companies supported International Women’s Day in a variety of ways. Here are a couple of our favorites:
Johnson & Johnson is partnering with Michelle Obama to Let Girls Learn
More than 62M girls stayed home from school today across the globe. Unfortunately that’s not by choice. The Let Girls Learn initiative was started to address the physical, cultural and financial challenges that are preventing girls from attending and completing school. Says the organization, “Educating girls can transform lives, families, communities, and entire countries. When girls are educated, they lead healthier and more productive lives. They gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to break the cycle of poverty and help strengthen their societies.”
General Electric is empowering women in India and beyond
GE is still bringing good things to life – whether that’s still their slogan or not. The company has focused significant efforts in India specifically by supporting skill building and education with a special focus on empowering women. GE has undertaken a series of initiatives in support of the well-being of the community in Chakan, near Pune, Maharashtra, where it has set up the first of its kind multi-modal manufacturing facility. ‘To ease the commute of girl students, we provided them bicycles,’ – Amit Kumar, Director, Global Supply Chain, GE South Asia.
‘GE’s continued focus on diversity, leadership and career broadening opportunities for women is testament to women being celebrated at work every day!’ Rachana Panda, Chief Communications Officer, GE South Asia.
Abbott is investing in the global power of women
Abbott and the Abbott Fund is working with Nobel Prize nominee Sakena Yacoobi to empower women as healthcare providers in Afghanistan as part of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL). Abbott’s support has helped provide health education and critical care for more than 1.5M women and children. They have enabled the training of more than 75 midwives and continue to support women-staffed clinics which helps provide not only health care, but jobs and economic opportunities for these women and their communities.
Says Katherine Pickus Divisional Vice President, Global Citizenship and Policy at Abbott, “What we found within a year of their completion of training is that each and every midwife had a job and was making money for her family, investing that money in their girls’ education, and really developing a cycle of empowerment.”
We’ve taken the pledge for parity, have you?
So many companies are doing their part of make a difference for us all. We thank them for their efforts!
