On March 8 we celebrate International Women’s Day, a day to value the great achievements led by women, as well as raise awareness about the problems of inequality that they continue to face on a daily basis.

From Sisters Hospitallers this year, 2022, we join this celebration echoing the motto chosen by UN Women: “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”

Advancing gender equality in the context of the climate crisis and disaster risk reduction is one of the greatest global challenges of the 21st century. The issues of climate change and sustainability have had and will continue to have, severe and lasting impacts on our environment, economic and social development. Those who are amongst the most vulnerable and marginalized experience the deepest impacts. Women are increasingly being recognized as more vulnerable to climate change impacts than men, as they constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are more dependent on the natural resources which climate change threatens the most.

At the same time, women and girls are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers for climate adaptation and mitigation. They are involved in sustainability initiatives around the world, and their participation and leadership results in more effective climate action. Continuing to examine the opportunities, as well as the constraints, to empower women and girls to have a voice and be equal players in decision-making related to climate change and sustainability is essential for sustainable development and greater gender equality. Without gender equality today, a sustainable future, and an equal future, remains beyond our reach.

We also celebrate the solemnity of Saint John of God

On March 8 we also celebrate the solemnity of Saint John of God; whose life and mission was the origin of the Hospital Work, in the s. XVI. A great defender of the dignity and rights of women, he was actively committed to the personal and social integration of the most marginalized women of the moment.