The IMO International Day for Women in Maritime is observed on 18 May every year.

The day celebrates women in the industry and promotes the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen IMO’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.

IMO Member States, the maritime industry, and all others in the maritime endeavour are invited to promote and celebrate the International Day for Women in Maritime in an appropriate and meaningful manner.

Learn more about the IMO’s Women in Maritime Programme here.

Women in Maritime can…

Women in maritime need to be visible. To raise the profile of women in maritime, IMO is pleased to launch the video: Women in maritime can….  Watch the video here.

Message from IMO Secretary-General, Kitack Lim

See here for a message from the Secretary-General of IMO, Kitack Lim, in which he highlights collaboration and networking in the maritime sector as a way of accelerating towards gender equality.

Global Conference of the IMO Women in Maritime Associations (WIMAs) – 18 and 19 May 2023

A global Conference of the eight regional Women in Maritime Associations will take place under the same theme.

Date: 18 and 19 May 2023

Time: from 9:30 a.m

Location: IMO Headquarters – hybrid modality on the first day (Main Hall), and in-person only on the second day (CR 9)

Media attendance: Media who wish to attend should email media@imo.org

Conference programme highlights

• Introduction of the Women in Maritime Programme and the IMO Women in Maritime Associations (WIMAs)/ Women in Maritime Can! Video
• IMO WIMAs, the road so far: Presentations by the eight IMO Regional Women in Maritime Associations
• WISTA International and the power of collaboration for a sustainable maritime future
• Presentation by IMOGENder Network and panel on “Leveraging the WMU/IMLI networks and mentorships”
• Men as allies for gender equality
• Panel on “Breaking the glass ceiling”
• Panel “WIMAs, IMOGENder and WISTA International: future opportunities for cross-cooperation”
• Development of a draft Global strategy for the IMO WIMAs
• Session for WIMAs on increasing visibility through social media and public websites.

Full conference programme can be downloaded here.

Social media

IMO invites women in maritime and everyone in the maritime industry to celebrate the day on social media using the hashtag #WomenInMaritimeDay.