International Women’s Day takes place on 8 March and in the days leading up to it, North Ayrshire Council will shine a light on how different services help to support and promote women and girls.

The official theme for this year is “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment” and this has been set by the United Nations, which is responsible for setting the theme globally.

We will promote how various teams and departments across the council continue to encourage and empower women, including:

• The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) service. This sees Community Development Workers, through the Connected Communities service, offering language classes to women from places as diverse as Spain, Columbia, Ukraine and Syria. Improving their language skills helps the women to integrate into their communities, communicate clearly with their neighbours, their children’s schools and wider community services and it also enhances their chances of finding training, education and work opportunities
• Our Employability Service’s Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme, which offers a wide range of tailored support to get women back into work, start work for the first time or take a step up the career ladder. In recent months, a range of initiatives have helped many women to enhance their job, learning and training opportunities. One of these, the Step into Sustainable Business programme, created new carbon accounts administrator roles for parents looking to join the workforce, offering six-month placements with businesses across North Ayrshire
• Community organisations like Largs Women’s Institute, which received more than £15,000 of funding to help support three different projects through the council’s Community Investment Fund (CIF). The aim of the institute is to help women “live their best lives” through community-based lifelong learning, fun and lasting friendships and
• Our Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) programmes in schools. STEM industries are a major source of employment in North Ayrshire, and the STEM team uses everything from biodiversity events at Eglinton Country Park to talks from industry experts to inspire young girls in our schools to unlock their potential.

We will also remind everyone of the activities that happen as part of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

This is a campaign that shines a light on men’s violence against women and girls, and it is heavily supported by the North Ayrshire Violence Against Women Partnership, which includes the Council and representatives from partner organisations including North Ayrshire Women's Aid, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

The UN’s theme is aligned with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action - the most progressive and widely endorsed blueprint globally for achieving gender equality and women's rights.

This year, the UN’s three key areas of focus are:

• Advance women’s and girls’ rights: Fight relentlessly for women’s and girls’ full range of human rights, challenging all forms of violence, discrimination, and exploitation
• Promote gender equality: Address systemic barriers, dismantle patriarchy, transform entrenched inequities, and elevate the voices of marginalised women and girls, including young people, to ensure inclusivity and empowerment and
• Foster empowerment: Redefine power structures by ensuring inclusive access to education, employment, leadership, and decision-making spaces. Prioritise opportunities for young women and girls to lead and innovate.

Follow the council’s official social media channels from Monday 3 March for updates and content about International Women’s Day. You can follow us on: X, Facebook and Linked In.

Volunteers with ESOL qualifications - and other qualifications including a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) - are needed to support council-led sessions.

If you know someone whose first language isn’t English and needs support with their English, you can complete a short referral form online here ESOL referrals. If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering opportunities across North Ayrshire to help New Scots improve their English and integrate into their community, you can fill in a form here New Scots & ESOL Volunteer Roles

The Employability Service delivers a range of support through its Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme.

Contracted partners delivering Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire include We Work for Families and CEIS Ayrshire, who all contribute to delivering a wide range of support to help individuals prepare and progress into employment.

Published: 03 March 2025