International Women's Day celebrated at Downing Street

Inspirational women from across the country have been invited to Downing Street this week to celebrate International Women’s Day 2024.

The week began with a reception at No10 to celebrate inspirational female leaders, attended by over 100 guests across a wide range of industries from businesses to civil society and the NHS.

The event featured a showcase of female-led small businesses, including family-run jewellery company Loel & Co, curly hair products by Bouclème and boxed wine from Laylo.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: 

“I am committed to delivering the long-term change needed to build a brighter future for women and girls.

“And we’ve made huge progress since I became Prime Minister – investing millions to ensure women feel safe on our streets, ensuring girls receive a world class education by boosting standards and championing STEM careers, giving women more choice with the largest ever childcare expansion in England’s history and launching the Women’s Health Strategy and Pharmacy First, making it easier for women to get the care they need more quickly. 

“But I know there is more to do. Whether it’s making our NHS faster, simpler and fairer for women, or backing female-led businesses, I am determined to deliver the long-term change needed to grow our economy and ensure women across the whole country can succeed.”

Minister for Women, and Minister for Women's Health Strategy, Maria Caulfield said: 

“International Women’s Day is about celebrating women, but also demanding more for women in every part of their lives. Our Women’s Health Strategy sets out our ambitions to make our healthcare system faster, simply and fairer for women. 

“We are delivering for women up and down the country by rolling out women’s health hubs, bringing all the services women will need across their life under one roof. We have also saved women going through the menopause £15 million a year via new Hormone Replacement Therapy prescription prepayment certificates. This year we’re focusing on improving maternity, care for menstrual problems and conditions like endometriosis and supporting more research into women’s health. 

"We must also be wise. Closing the gender pay gap between women and men could add an additional £250 billion to the UK economy, so we are using evidence-based actions to tackle inequalities and empower women to flourish.” 

Earlier this week, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work Mims Davies convened a roundtable at Downing Street with female business leaders, health professionals, charities and academics to better understand how the government and business can support women experiencing menopause in the workplace. 

Mims Davies MP, Minister for Disabled People, Health & Work, said: 

“It was an honour to bring women, and businesses, together for Downing Street’s first menopause employer roundtable this week to discuss what more can be done to support women in the workplace.

“With one in ten women between 40 and 60 considering quitting their job due to a lack of employment support, we are working with sectors, businesses and the Government’s Menopause Employment Champion Helen Tomlinson to break the menopause taboo and help women thrive throughout their careers.” 

Today, Mrs Murty is hosting a special mentoring session with female role models and business leaders for girls and young women at Downing Street. This is part of the ‘Lessons at 10’ programme, which provides children from across the country with the unique opportunity see behind the scenes of the famous black door and with the help of special guests, industry experts and incredible charitable organisations, Lessons at 10 hopes to bring education to life, encourage a love of learning and inspire children from across the UK.

The event is being delivered together with The Girls’ Network, a charity that partners with secondary schools and colleges across England to offer girls, aged 14-19, a year-long mentoring programme to support their ambitions.

Akshata Murty said:

“I’m so pleased to be marking this International Women’s Day by celebrating women in business. It is fantastic to host a special mentoring session with female role models and business leaders for girls and young women at Downing Street.

“I know the phenomenal work that goes into running a business. My mother’s endeavours in science, technology, engineering and maths allowed her to push boundaries both academically and professionally and gave her a ringside seat to the technological revolution.

“I hope other women and girls are inspired by role models around them to pursue their own passions.”

Katie Thiselton, Co-Executive Director, The Girls' Network said:  

“This is such a great opportunity for our young women to speak with incredible women from a wide range of backgrounds and professions about their careers, the challenges they have faced and what inspires them.

“At The Girls' Network we often say 'if you can see it, you can be it' so giving girls access to women, from so many different walks of life will hopefully show them that anything is possible.

"We hope that by being invited into No10, girls will see that spaces like this are just as much for them as anyone else.  It will be a memorable experience for all involved and I’m sure the girls will come away feeling inspired and motivated in their own journeys.” 

The Government has a strong track record of supporting women, including through:

Health

• We’ve made huge progress to improve healthcare for women.
• Through our Women’s Health Strategy, we are enabling almost half a million women access cheaper HRT, alongside supporting women through the agony of pregnancy loss and opening new women’s health hubs. 
• The government also recently introduced baby loss certificates to support parents who have experienced a loss of pregnancy before 24 weeks, which will recognise the devastating loss of a baby during pregnancy.
• We have also made it easier for women to get oral contraception - whether for the first time or on repeat – through Pharmacy First.  And this year, Health and Social Care Secretary has named problem periods, women’s health research and support for domestic and sexual abuse victims among our priorities for women’s health.  

Employment

• We recognise that high-quality affordable childcare is a pivotal factor in ensuring that women’s careers can thrive.
• That’s why we are rolling out the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever, providing 30 free hours from nine months to the start of school from September 2025. This is set to save eligible working parents using 30 hours a week an average of £6,500 per year.  
• We are backing business and supporting female-led enterprises of all sizes to thrive. At Autumn Statement 2023 we announced an extension to the 75% business rate relief for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties for 2024-25, a tax cut worth £2.4 billion. The Spring Budget goes further to support SMEs by increasing the VAT registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 to cut their taxes and help them grow.

• Pensions automatic enrolment has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2022.
• The Taskforce on Women-Led High-Growth Enterprise is helping to increase the number of female entrepreneurs by half by 2030.
• We passed legislation which safeguarded and enshrined key equalities protections, rights and principles, including those related to breastfeeding and maternity leave. 

Safety

• We are determined to ensure women and girls feel safe on our streets.
• Progress continues to be made to strengthen the way officers are vetted, scrutinised, managed and disciplined and laws are being introduced to ensure those charged with serious offences are automatically suspended from service.
• Our Domestic Abuse Plan has invested over £230 million in tackling domestic abuse and builds on a series of measures which prioritise tackling violence against women and girls, and we also passed the landmark Domestic Abuse Act in April 2021. 
• We’ve also allocated over £150 million through the Safer Streets Fund and Safety of Women at Night funds.
• We have criminalised virginity testing and introduced FGM protection orders – of which over 840 have now been issued – and introduced mandatory reporting for FGM.
• Clare’s Law has introduced new offences to tackle forced marriage, as well as a scheme allowing women to check if their partner has a violent history.
• In the End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan, we committed to returning the volumes of adult rape cases reaching court back to 2016 levels – and we exceeded our ambition by 20% in July to September 2023.

Education

• We are continuing to deliver on our plan to give every child a world class education, regardless of gender.
• Education standards have risen sharply across the country, with 89% of schools now rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from just 68% in 2010 - and pupils’ performance is some of the best globally.
• The latest data shows the gender gap between boys and girls across most headline measures is narrowing across all key phases.
• We have transformed apprenticeships to ensure there is something for everyone, enabling women to start great careers in high-skilled sectors. We’ve introduced almost 700 high-quality apprenticeships designed by employers, and the success of the apprenticeship levy has allowed us to increase investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by next year.
• The Government is backing The Open University to offer high-quality higher education and training, targeting cold spots across the country, supporting women to upskill wherever they live.

Sport

• We are completely committed to delivering equal access to sport for girls in schools, alongside an unprecedented £400 million investment in grassroots facilities outside of school.  
• We are also committed to supporting the FA and NewCo in the full professionalisation of women’s football, and equal access to sport in schools for girls. And we are establishing a Board of Women’s Sports this year to accelerate the growth of women’s sport.