Expo 2020: Humanity thrives when women thrive, says Reem Al Hashimy

Achieving gender equality requires collective action as the world heads into a post-pandemic era — this was the message that stood out loud and clear at a grand ceremony held at Expo 2020 to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Under stunning light projections at Al Wasl Plaza, and to the lilting strains of soft orchestral music, the event held by the Women’s Pavilion in collaboration with Cartier, hosted prominent women who reminded the world that there was no more critical time to stand for gender equality than today.

Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Cyrille Vigneron, president and CEO of Cartier International, made speeches, while Oscar-winning actor Rami Malik read out a New Day’s Lyric written by Poet Amanda Gorman that honours the future.

Powerful poems and musical performances inspired the women and men gathered there, to take action within their own sphere of influence and become agents of change. In her speech, Al Hashimy started off by saying that “when women thrive, humanity thrives.”

“Women have been a cornerstone of my society, government and people. There is a need to find ways to continue to encourage, advocate and inspire,” she said, adding that the Women’s Pavilion was established to showcase the forgotten or omitted stories of women in a new light.

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The Women’s Pavilion hosted diplomats and experts to shape a better future for women in the workplace and break the bias.