ICAO acting with its partners to support Gender Equality in Aviation

Actions in support of gender equality and diversity are about human rights. They are about breaking biases, stereotypes and codes, which we can do through awareness, awakening, and action. We should all take inspiration from those who courageously stand against discrimination. As the great American poet and activist Maya Angelou said, “each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women”. Of course, accelerating progress towards gender equality is not just a woman’s responsibility – men can and must stand up and play leadership roles in demolishing the barriers that prevent girls and women from accessing the opportunities that are able and willing to pursue.
ICAO has a unique DNA informed by its aviation work and its status as a United Nations agency. We transcribe this DNA into a specific set of values and commitments. Chief among these is achievement of Gender Equality within the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This means promoting the broad participation of women in all domains of the global aviation sector, including in leadership positions, through the identification and erasure of existing barriers.

This engagement has been supported by ICAO Assembly Resolutions and programs which have created momentum and paved the way for future progress. Yet, despite efforts from States and the industry, progress remains too limited and too slow. As an example, participation of women holding positions as pilots, air traffic controllers, and maintenance technicians has only increased on a global basis from 4.5% in 2016 to 4.9% in 2021. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023, it would take another 131 years to close the global gender gap. The perspective that gender equality in aviation may not happen in our lifetimes is unacceptable.

Intensifying our engagement and achieving better results are a necessity. Raising awareness and celebrating achievements will remain important.

This month, on the 8th of March, we will seize once again the opportunity of the International Women’s Day to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, and for drawing attention to the need for gender equality. This year, the theme will be “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”.
Indeed, one of the key challenges in achieving gender equality by 2030 is an alarming lack of financing. In support of this year’s topic, ICAO will convene a high-level panel discussion under the theme of “Inclusive Heights: Women Inspiring Aviation”, during which panelists will share their insights and interact with the audience on the challenges and opportunities for advancing gender equality in the aviation sector including how women contribute to shaping the future of a sustainable, resilient, and thriving aviation sector.

Over the last year, several important initiatives have been promoted extensively with all of ICAO’s internal and external audience segments.

Building on the outcomes of the inaugural Global Aviation Gender Summit held in 2018, the ICAO Global Aviation Gender Summit 2023 was hosted by the Government of Spain, from 5 to 7 July 2023 in Madrid. The Summit was organized in partnership with the European Commission (EC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), UN Women, and the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Summit brought together Governments, international and intergovernmental organizations, private stakeholders, academia and advocates of change from around the world to discuss solutions, catalyze progress, advocate for change and promote bold actions for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in aviation. Through the Summit, all stakeholders were called to work together to dismantle the barriers that women and girls face and to change the makeup of the aviation workforce.
During this summit, I had myself the privilege to moderate the “Vision of the Next Generation” panel with three outstanding young women: Ms. Katherin Martínez, Representative of El Salvador on the ICAO Council; Ms. Birna Katrín Gunnlaugsdóttir, First Officer at Icelandair; and Ms. Ana Gagua, Student in Technical Exploitation of Air Traffic Control Systems at the Georgian Aviation University.

Panel on the “Vision of the Next Generation” held during the ICAO Global Aviation Gender Summit
The Summit concluded with a “Call to Action” comprised of several clear and actionable steps and strategies towards resolving the aviation sector’s very significant gender equality challenges. As was highlighted by the ICAO Council President, Mr. Salvatore Sciacchitano. “advancing gender equality in aviation is not only the right thing to do, but a necessary transformation for the future of our sector,”

At the regional level, too, a new momentum is being initiated, making use of our ability to reach out to all 56 States in the vast accreditation area of the ICAO European and North Atlantic (EUR/NAT) Office, spanning from Iceland to Central Asia and including States in the southern shore of the Mediterranean.

In preparation for the 2023 Meeting of the EUR/NAT Directors General of Civil Aviation held in Paris, France, on 20 June 2023, we decided to include Gender Equality as one of the 5 key topics to be discussed amongst the participating States and Organizations. This led to an agreement to foster the exchange of information, experience and best practices with the nomination of “Gender Equality State Focal Points,” and the promotion of new or ongoing initiatives by States and organizations across the EUR/NAT area – in particular with respect to fellowship/sponsorship programs for aviation training specifically directed to young women.

The EUR/NAT Directors of Civil Aviation were invited to consider providing in-kind and voluntary contributions to the ICAO Gender Equality Program as well as undertaking initiatives and activities in support of improving gender equality in aviation, such as scholarships and financial assistance to enable young women and girls to pursue careers in aviation.

We believe that it is time to turn ideas into actions, and actions into results. We have limited resources, but a lot can be achieved by joining efforts towards initiatives with tangible outcomes. Accordingly, in December 2023, we kicked off the first of a series of webinars on “Mentoring in Support of Advancing Gender Equality in Aviation”. This event provided participants with an opportunity to learn more about the concept of mentoring, its role in career development of women, requirements for establishing mentoring programs and best practices and examples of such programs.

I wish to express my gratitude to the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA), and to Ms. Nicola NiRiada personally, for their enthusiastic support to this webinar, along with representatives from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), EUROCONTROL, the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) and ICAO.

We opted to start with mentoring programs as they can more directly benefit women across our regions. But this webinar was just a first step on a journey which we hope will benefit as many women as possible. We will need to promote and give maximum visibility to existing initiatives and to create new ones when needed across the EUR/NAT area.

Joining forces will lead to new partnerships, avoiding duplication of efforts and exploring synergies whenever possible. It is time to unite to transform challenges into opportunities, turn obstacles into teachers, and act to shape a better future for women and therefore, for all humankind.