Yesterday was International Women’s Day, a day dedicated to promoting gender equality and advancement of women.

Europe has improved drastically in past years in trying to push for a more inclusive role for women in our societies, and Malta is no exception. The EU has, for example, set out various targets in the Lisbon Agenda which are specifically geared towards increasing the quality of life of women and of increasing participation in the world of work.

One must admit that we do lag behind in certain respects, especially that of encouraging women to return to work and of having women in top positions around the country.

But there have been improvements. We have women in our country who have been appointed to various top posts, while others are making very good headway in the private and public sectors.

We have women serving in our army and our police force and this all bodes well. Women have just as much potential as men and if they are willing, it can only be positive for them to strive to reach the top.

The government and the opposition have also made statements through action in this regard. Both parties are actively pushing for more candidates to contest in upcoming elections while there are a number of ministers, shadow ministers and parliamentary secretaries who are female.

Perhaps one area where we need to make more strides, although a number of schemes are already in place, is that of creating more and better equipped childcare facilities. A woman will not leave her young child in the custody of any old facility – it has to have a good track record and has to inspire the confidence of the parents.

To this end, Minister Dolores Cristina recently handed out improvement grants to 23 childcare centres so as to offer a better service to parents. This should give mothers, and of course fathers, more peace of mind when taking a decision on whether or not women want to go back into employment after having given birth to a child.

Another positive measure is the plans to turn certain government schools into childcare centres when they are not in use.

Sexual discrimination also rears its ugly head on occasions, as does sexual harassment. The government has again taken the lead in this regard by issuing a code of ethics which it takes very seriously. In addition, laws have been passed to safeguard women’s rights.

Domestic violence is another phenomenon to which a zero tolerance is finally being applied. Although there are still women who end up destitute and having to recur to charity houses, this trend seems finally being reversed with tough police action and tough stances in court. Perhaps the best part of all this is that abused women are being offered protection in the form of the judiciary not allowing the spouse back into the house while the court case is still being heard.

Malta had also recently struggled with dealing with a steady rise in forced prostitution of women coming to Malta under the impression that they were being given a job. The police are doing a good job in tracking down offenders and are pushing for stiff penalties in that regard.

One thing is certain, the advancement of women is not simply to be left to women. It should also not simply be left to men. It is something which we, as an inclusive society, must strive for. We must change the mindset of individuals and certain sectors of society. Having more women who fulfil every aspect of their potential contributing to the growth of this country is surely beneficial to all.