Women’s Solidarity During the Pandemic: 2021 Woman to Woman

The global Covid-19 pandemic that defined the year 2020 had a profound impact on women, primarily due to increased household and caregiving responsibilities, as well as job losses. At the onset of the pandemic, on March 8, 2020, we organized the SES Women Mentoring Walk with the aim of empowering more women in their careers and guiding young women along their paths.

However, in March 2021, after a year of the pandemic, we decided to shift the focus of our women’s solidarity event towards collaboration and sharing, rather than solely mentoring. This was because the pandemic period had led to the diversification and intensification of the social and individual issues women faced. Therefore, our goal was to create an event that encompassed not only women’s pursuits in their work and educational lives but also the problems they encountered during the pandemic. We hosted this event online, bringing women together in a digital environment.

With the aim of fostering an environment for women to share their challenges and experiences, regardless of their life stages, backgrounds, skills, or ages, we organized the ‘Woman to Woman’ event. The response was overwhelming, with hundreds of women applying eagerly to take part.

Participant Profile:

Age:

7 were under 20 years old

32 were between 20-30 years old

40 were between 30-50 years old

21 were over 50 years old

Education:

59% of applicants held a bachelor’s degree.

38% of applicants held a master’s or doctoral degree.

46% of women were interested in career development and entrepreneurship, while 54% were interested in personal development.

52% expressed interest in personal growth and empowerment, and 48% were concerned with issues such as violence against women, increasing gender inequality, women’s growing responsibilities, and coping with uncertainty.

On the morning of Sunday, March 7, close to 300 women gathered online via Zoom for a special virtual event. The day commenced with introductory speeches and briefings, following which the participants were paired up and directed to breakout rooms to engage in one-on-one conversations for 100 minutes. Once the allocated time elapsed, the groups reconvened to share their experiences, and a brief survey was conducted to collect valuable feedback from the participants. We were thrilled to receive overwhelmingly positive and uplifting comments from those involved. To wrap up the event on a powerful note, a video showcasing the song “Women of the World Unite” was shared, leaving everyone feeling inspired and empowered.