The theme chosen by the United Nations to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Equality for women is progress for all’.
The UN believes countries perform better, register progress and draw on a complete range of talent and skills when they promote equal opportunities and women’s full participation.
The participation of women is becoming increasingly evident in the economic, political, cultural and social spheres, with the latter manifested particularly in the voluntary sector.
Voluntary work is considered an added value and an essential element in developing both individual and society. It is about giving without expecting monetary returns.
Work in this sector empowers both women and men with skills, tools, self-development and self-satisfaction.
Women seem to embrace voluntary work. They actively involve themselves in diverse fields, ranging from voluntary work in the healthcare sector and in Church and religious institutions to the various NGOs, lobbying and working on equality issues, and also on the environment and crisis intervention.
Acknowledging this involvement, figures released by the National Statistics Office show that in 2012 there were a total of 14,240 females (7.8 per cent) who involved themselves within a voluntary organisation or another entity.
This figure outnumbered the 13,690 males (7.6 per cent) who in 2012 dedicated their time in a voluntary organisation or another entity. Therefore, these figures show that women are more likely to involve themselves in voluntary work.
It is about giving without expecting monetary returns
But how many hours do women spend in voluntary work?
The National Statistics Office estimates that in 2012 men spent an average of 24 hours of voluntary work while women spent 19 hours in a typical month. This implies that individual women spend fewer hours doing voluntary work in a month, which may be due to other commitments, such as paid employment or caring responsibilities.
Volunteering offers an opportunity to take up positions of responsibility in the respective organisation.
Women have been seen to develop their work and reach roles of leadership in their communities, especially in spheres mainly dominated by men.
Therefore, voluntary organisations should continue promoting and recognising women’s talents, skills, contributions and leadership, giving them equal visibility to men.
In this context, empowering women to participate in community life across all sectors benefits both women, as it enhances their knowledge, skills and experiences, and society at large, by building stronger communities and improving the quality of everyone’s life.
Moreover, it is society at large that benefits mostly from the active and selfless involvement of women in voluntary work.
This results in progress within our communities on various levels and fostering effective equality within an empowered society.
For more information, contact the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality on 2590 3850, equality@gov.mt or on Facebook.