To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, Expo 2020 Dubai will host a three-day global gathering of world leaders in politics, business, technology and culture to shine a spotlight on gender, celebrate female talent and catalyse urgent change that goes beyond the current rhetoric of quotas and capacity-building measures.

From 6-8 March, the site will host a diverse programme that reflects the 2022 theme of International Women’s Day – #BreakTheBias – which values differences and imagines a gender-equal world, free of stereotypes and discrimination.

Despite making up half of the world’s population, women face widespread and significant barriers to equality, often with limited access to resources and leadership opportunities. The International Women’s Day Forum – a collaboration between Expo 2020 Dubai and Cartier – will address these issues and focus on the critical need to empower women for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Forum, running between 1330-1800 at DEC, will engage visionaries, leaders, and innovators to shine a light on gender bias, and discuss how women and men around the world are dismantling it for a more equal tomorrow.

The day will then culminate in a not-to-be-missed evening performance presented by Cartier at Al Wasl dome.

Programming across International Women’s Day at Expo 2020 Dubai, further details of which will be revealed soon, will build on the World Expo’s celebrations for International Day for Women and Girls in Science (11 February), which engaged women change-makers with the aim of achieving full and equal access to, and participation in, science to further achieve equality and empowerment.