Mӧvenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives has celebrated International Women’s Day by organising a master class with Akiko Fujii, Resident Representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Maldives as the key speaker for the event.

The symposium, held at the resort on March 7, was based on the 2020 International Women’s Day theme: I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights.

The event started with a welcome note by Mövenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives’ General Manager Maciej Gruszecki.

The session presented Fujii’s success story with over 25 years in the UNDP. She mentioned that despite progress in the education and health sectors for women during the past years, there are emerging gender inequalities.

In a tête-à-tête session with the resort’s Harassment Redressal Chairperson and Director of Revenue and Reservations Doris Kariuki, Fujii shared some facts and views on how social beliefs can obstruct women’s empowerment. She also shared some suggestions on how the private sector can contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and explained innovative business models for social impact.

In a Q&A round, Fujii emphasised the importance of providing opportunities to link education to job markets through internships, apprenticeships and job placements, as there is a demand for women in engineering, aquaculture, biodiversity preservation, marine biology and environmental management in the tourism sector.

The event was attended by the resort management, resort employees and in-house guests.

“Breakthrough innovation has long been an engine of growth for society and economy, changing the lives of mass numbers of people through time and will be key for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, as technology advances and innovations transform the way we do business, women are increasingly left behind,” Vaibhav Garg, Director of Talent and Culture at Mövenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives, explained.

“This session featuring the UNDP resident representative explored how business can promote women’s participation in the innovation life cycle and how organisations can ensure they are incorporating gender dimensions into their operations, innovations, diversity and inclusion practices.”

Over the last week, the resort’s talent and culture team also ran a digital campaign featuring women from the team to celebrate the International Women’s Day.