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Planning PR for International Women’s Day 2026? Align with the UN theme
The former CIPR President urges all PR and communications professionals to please make sure you’re aligning with the official UN campaign
International Women’s Day was never meant to be about gestures that look good. It was meant to be about rights, justice and action.
Every year for the past four years, I’ve shared the same reminder: the theme most organisations follow for International Women’s Day isn’t the ‘official’ one.
The website that often appears first when you search for International Women’s Day is owned by a marketing company. They’re paid to come up with a more palatable, brand-friendly theme each year.
This year, they’ve chosen “Give to Gain” because apparently women still have to give something in order to gain equal rights.
The UN's official International Women's Day theme
The official theme, set by UN Women, is:
Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls.
Unlike the marketing company, which encourages people to mark the day with performative hand symbols, the UN grounds its theme in the real challenges facing women and girls across the world.
This year, UN Women stated: “In 2026, women have only 64 per cent of the legal rights that men hold worldwide. In fundamental areas of life — including work, money, safety, family, property, mobility, business and retirement — the law systematically disadvantages women.”
At the current rate of progress, it will take 286 years to close legal protection gaps.
Let that sink in.
People often say to me, “I think this whole DEI thing has gone a bit too far recently.”
Looking at what’s happening around us, I’d argue it hasn’t gone far enough.
UN Women also said: “This year, IWD 2026 calls for action to dismantle the structural barriers to equal justice: discriminatory laws, weak legal protections, and harmful practices and social norms that erode the rights of women and girls.”
So before you ask colleagues to replicate a pose linked to the unofficial theme, I’d encourage you to pause and think about what that really achieves. And more importantly, how it will change things for the women in your organisation.
- International Women's Day 2026 takes place on Sunday 8 March 2026.
Internal communications and inclusion expert Advita Patel is the CIPR President 2025. She is the co-founder of CommsRebel, a Manchester-based communications consultancy, and A Leader Like Me, a global consultancy supporting organisations to be more inclusive.
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