Malta still needs to celebrate Women’s Day "because we have not reached complete gender equality yet and the day allows us to focus on what can be done to reach this important goal," to Renee Laiviera, from the Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations, said.

Ms Laiviera said that Malta lacked a holistic approach to ensure equality, especially at the work place. Although there were some initiatives in place, they were too fragmented and were not looking at the bigger picture.

Women needed support structures, such as child-minding facilities, to ensure that they can return to work after having a baby. This would also encourage them to pursue their careers and take on directorship roles in companies.

A recent EU study showed that Malta ranked last when it came to the presence of women on company boards.

Gender pay gaps remained a reality and stood at 23 per cent in Malta, Ms Laiviera pointed out.

She and her colleague, Anna Borg, stressed that the government ought to invest in setting up support structures such as services for before and after school hours.

This was an investment in society as it meant that women would work, pay taxes and national insurance and it would also address the dropping birth rate.

Ms Borg pointed out that government was investing in educating women, as 60 per cent of university students are female. However, this investment was not being maximised as many stopped working, or slowed down, after they had children. Only 23 per cent of women returned to work after six months of having a bady.

Ms Borg and Ms Laiviera insisted on the importance of sharing family responsibilities between the man and woman.

She added that she would like to see more men come together to lobby for more parental rights –that would he a sign that equality was being reached.