This year the United Nations is marking 50 years since adopting German activist Clara Zetkin’s idea of celebrating International Women’s Day, a concept first introduced in 1911.

While progress has been made since then, gender equality and women’s empowerment remain urgent priorities requiring accelerated action.

The third edition of the Fidem Foundation Women’s Day Conference on Friday 7th March will explore strategies to dismantle structural inequalities, such as unequal pay, limited education access for adults and underrepresentation in leadership, while focusing on long-term solutions.

The conference will start with a look back at what has been achieved over the past 12 months.

Fidem Foundation Founder Sabine Agius Cabourdin said: “The conference is not just one day. Women’s rights are not limited to one day but to every day of the year. But progress in gender priorities is too slow. It is time to move beyond symbolic gestures and take real concrete action. Institutions should be held accountable and urged to deliver on commitments without any further delays.”

Dr Cabourdin and economist Prof. Marie Briguglio will analyse the report from last year’s conference and what answers, if any, were forthcoming from various Government ministries on questions that were raised at the 2024 event.

This year’s conference will have two distinct halves.

Key topics in the first part of the conference will include advancing women’s economic empowerment in industry, education, education, sports, arts and culture.

Panelists will include economist Joe Farrugia of Malta Employers Association, Maria Brown, a senior lecturer in adult education, and Prof. Anna Borg who co-authored the research on perceptions of work-life balance with a specific focus on family size.

The newly elected Malta Football Association general secretary Maria Azzopardi, the first woman to hold this post thanks to a change in MFA rules, will be spearheading the discussion on women in sports alongside Mediterranean College of Sports CEO Charlo Bonnici.

Music producer and X-Factor judge Howard Keith Debono will discuss the barriers women face in the music industry together with Malta Arts Council COO Mary Ann Cauchi.

The second half of the conference will focus on domestic violence, a subject close to Fidem’s heart.

“Fidem Foundation works with numerous women from troubled backgrounds who are seeking to start afresh. We give them access to education that will change their life, and help them to find a better job that will give them the financial independence they require to rise like the proverbial phoenix,” Dr Cabourdin said.

Fidem advocates for accelerated action in securing timely justice for domestic violence victims and a humane and dignified process.

“Delays in the justice system cost lives while stigma and untreated trauma heighten vulnerabilities. We also need to look at how we can safeguard the mental health of survivors and their families, especially their young children who carry this trauma with them for the rest of their life,” Dr Cabourdin added.

Alessia Cilia Portelli, the sister of femicide victim Bernice Cassar, will be sharing her experience witnessing her sister’s case and raising her children. She will discuss the hurdles that domestic violence victims still face together with the head of the Victim Support Agency superintendent Sylvana Gafà, Domestic Violence Commissioner Samantha Pace Gasan and gender studies lecturer and activist Prof. Marcelin Naudi.

Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Nigel Camilleri will talk about the effects of domestic violence on children who witness the trauma. He will be joined on the panel by the director of the Child Protection Directorate Antonella Mizzi and the head of SOAR services at St Jeanne Antide Foundation Shakira Fenech.

Media strategist Ariadne Massa and podcast presenter Trudy Kerr will be moderating.

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The conference is open to the public. Final tickets available here.