As we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th, the global community reflects on the progress made toward gender equality while acknowledging the persistent gaps that remain. For the RE-WIRING project, this day serves as a vital reminder that achieving true inclusion and representation for women and girls requires more than just empowering individuals; it requires a fundamental transformation of the structures that govern our lives.
Our Mission: Dismantling the Root Causes
Our mission remains focused on identifying and dismantling the root causes of gendered power hierarchies to create environments where everyone can thrive.
The core of our research highlights a critical shift in perspective: we must stop trying to “fix” women and start “re-wiring” institutions. Traditional equality strategies often place the burden on women to adapt to male-dominated systems, but our Transformative Equality Approach advocates for a systemic overhaul.
The RECIPE for Change
To facilitate this change, RE-WIRING has developed practical tools like the RECIPE framework for gender-transformative law and policy-making. This model is the result of extensive research and focuses on six vital pillars:
- Recognition
- Evidence
- Connection
- Intersectionality
- Policy
- Evaluation
By applying these criteria, policymakers can ensure that initiatives for International Women’s Day are not merely symbolic but contribute to a lasting redistribution of power and resources.
Explore the full tool here: RECIPE Framework
Beyond Representation: Addressing Invisible Structures
Our recent work, including findings shared at our Final Conference in Leuven, underscores that representation alone is not enough. We must address the “invisible” structures—such as gender-negligent pension laws or unequal distributions of care work—that continue to disadvantage women even when they reach leadership positions.
On this International Women’s Day, RE-WIRING reaffirms its commitment to providing the evidence and the “better practice” toolkits necessary to ensure that the next generation of women and girls enters a world that has been truly re-wired for equality.
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