The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu recently addressed members of the Women in Aviation International’s India Chapter providing introductory remarks to its virtual meeting on “Connecting the dots – Recovery for aviation, tourism and hospitality”.
The Secretary General emphasized that significant gender equality challenges are still prevalent in the air transport sector and there are many opportunities to address current imbalances as the sector pivots and recovers from COVID-19 pandemic period.
Dr. Liu noted that whilst it is now more common to see women in positions of power and prominence, in both the public and private sectors, ther still remain under-represented in most professional, leadership, and decision-making categories.
But the ICAO Secretary General stressed that there is still a lot to be done now and in the future in order to address the gender gap – even as the world continues to respond and comes to terms with the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Liu stressed that the UN’s Agenda 2030 for sustainable development laid a lot of emphasis on this aspect by featuring a suitably prominent, comprehensive, and cross-cutting commitment to gender equality.
She highlighted the fact that the country has suffered significant 50 and 60 per cent downturns in domestic and international operations respectively but the future looks optimistic with the Covid-19 vaccine being rolled out in most countries.
“We must by encourage women in aviation in India to aspire to greater heights, and to set no limits for yourselves in terms of your future challenges and ambitions.” Dr. Liu concluded. The meeting was also attended by the Permanent Representative of India to ICAO, Dr. Shefali Juneja, and senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India
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