Vienna, 21 April 2026 - A historic milestone was marked with the first global celebration of the International Day of Women in Industry (IDWI) on 21 April 2026. The Day was proclaimed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) 173 Member States through a resolution adopted at the 21st session of the UNIDO General Conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Day reflects a shared recognition that women’s participation and leadership in industry are not only matters of equality, but strategic drivers of inclusive and sustainable industrial development.
The inaugural observance was marked worldwide. Across all regions, governments, firms, UNIDO country offices and partners organized activities including policy dialogues, conferences, site visits, workshops, exhibitions, media campaigns and networking events. From Africa and the Arab Region to Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, the celebrations highlighted women’s leadership in manufacturing, clean energy, agribusiness, digital innovation and the circular economy, among other sectors.
Together, these global activities conveyed a clear message: At a time of major industrial shifts towards green and digital transitions, including in the context of AI and the future of work, transformation can only succeed with the full participation of women at all levels.
The Global Observance at UNIDO Headquarters in Vienna
At the heart of the global celebration was the Global Observance of the Day, hosted by UNIDO at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) on 21 April, which brought the international community together both in person and online, representing governments, the private sector, academia, civil society, and the wider public. Complementing the conference programme, UNIDO hosted the “ELLEvate – Women Shaping Industry” exhibition, showcasing inspiring stories of women in industry.
The high-level morning session brought together a diverse panel of speakers, reflecting the many domains in which women influence industrial development today. The session opened with a message from UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller from Hanoi, Vietnam, visiting a UNIDO project that exemplifies what concrete empowerment and progress for women in industry look like, supporting women-led SMEs as well as female farmers and technical experts. He emphasized that the full participation of women in industry is essential for sustainable economic and industrial development. DG Müller: “When women have equal opportunities and rights, they drive growth and make our economies more resilient.”
A keynote address by Tarja Halonen, Former President of Finland, set a forward‑looking tone, linking women’s leadership to sustainable economic governance and global resilience. “When women are compensated equally, industries benefit from broader talent, greater productivity, and more sustainable outcomes,” she said, while also highlighting the essential role of robust parental leave and quality childcare policies in creating equitable workplaces as a critical factor.
A panel of female leaders from traditionally male-dominated sectors, including artificial intelligence, advanced maritime technology and water infrastructure, highlighted their contributions to competitiveness, innovation, and sustainability across industrial value chains. The discussion centred on the persistent gender-specific challenges encountered in leadership and entrepreneurship.
In the afternoon, the event “Metrics That Matter: Measuring and Steering Industrial Transformation through a Gender Lens,” highlighted the importance of sex‑disaggregated data for effective industrial policymaking. The keynote address by Ranja Reda Kouba, Head of Customer Engineering, Financial Services Industries, Google Cloud Germany, set the tone, outlining the enormous pace and opportunities entailed with the rapid shift to digital technology and AI that we are facing today.
While progress has been made, participants emphasized ongoing gaps in measuring women’s advancement, well‑being and leadership, as well as the need to ensure that digital and AI‑driven industrial transformation does not reproduce existing gender biases. “We do not lack gender-sensitive data. We are lacking the right gender-sensitive data. And data alone is not transformative. We need a paradigm shift towards a global harmonized data system that links directly to policy and investment decisions.” said Laura Linda Sabbadini, social statistician and former Director of the Social and Environmental Statistics Department at the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). Her Highness Princess Mashael Saud Al Shalaan of Saudi Arabia, Co-Founder and Managing Director of the AEON Collective, also underscored its importance in her remarks: “Sex-disaggregated data is not a nice to have. It is a precondition to seeing an economy clearly.”
A shared responsibility for inclusive industrial transformation
The establishment of the International Day of Women in Industry by the 173 UNIDO Member States in Riyadh demonstrates a growing global consensus: economies perform better when they fully leverage the potential of women. Evidence shows that closing gender gaps in employment could increase GDP by up to 15–20 per cent in many economies.
While women’s participation in education and the workforce has increased worldwide, this progress has not translated proportionally into leadership roles. Women account for less than 15 per cent of top political leadership positions globally and only around 5–10 per cent of CEO roles in private enterprises, despite near workforce parity in many contexts. In many countries, cultural norms, legal barriers and emerging narratives continue to hinder women’s full participation in economic and industrial life. At a time when global tensions challenge multilateral cooperation, the value of inclusive dialogue and shared solutions is more evident than ever.
The first International Day of Women in Industry demonstrated that advancing gender equality in industry is both a shared responsibility and a strategic imperative. UNIDO is committed to working with its Member States and partners to build inclusive industrial ecosystems where women are not only participants, but leaders shaping the future of industry.
For more information, please contact:
Find more pictures here:
21.04.2026 International Day of Women in Industry | Flickr
