My younger daughter celebrates her 17th birthday on March 8, 2022, but the disheartening news is that it might be the only thing she and other girls as well as women can celebrate this day. Unfortunately, the development of gender equality still has a long way to go - even in West European countries like Denmark, and the question is whether my sister and me will experience real equality in our lifetime. Although progress is sometimes made, it is mouse steps, which, combined with setbacks, sometimes makes it difficult to predict how far we will get towards gender equality in the next 10-20 years.

Regardless of the day itself, the problems for women remain the same. Women are routinely paid less, promoted less, and rewarded less than their male counterparts in the world’s workplaces. The World Economic Forum revealed that none of us would see gender parity in our lifetime, and nor likely will many of our children. Another generation of women will have to wait for gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt, closing the global gender gap has increased by a generation from 99.5 years to 135.6 years. This is truly disheartening news.

Unfortunately, modern women's rights movement must be taken quite literally. Women fight against other women rather than challenging patriarchal society, the ultimate 'freedom' consists in being part of it. There is no opposition to or serious criticism of patriarchal society, which, on the contrary, has been elevated to the measure of how 'equal' the man and the woman are. The woman is 'free' when she can sit on the chief aisle or in the director's chair that the man has sat in for centuries.

One could also put it squarely on the lead and say that the above atrocities could never occur if it were not for the fact that women's rights movement today is reduced to (for many) problematize (un)equality in foreign communities/cultures and otherwise becoming part of the patriarchal order rather than fighting it. The women's game today must therefore be understood quite literally, and if that is the case, no celebration is relevant, but for the men, and especially those who want the current power relationship to exist. Therefore, I congratulate my youngest daughter and men on International Women’s Day 2022.

For years, companies have been celebrating International Women's Day, but merely as a tick-the-box exercise. However, they should make the day something different and more in 2022 and let 2022 be the year when companies and especially corporate leadership make a proactive and positive difference to promote gender diversity and gender equality on the promotion, equal pay and linguistic courtesy agenda in the industrialized countries. The challenges in the developing countries however are much bigger and require many other solutions.

If a clarity of purpose promoting real diversity and inclusion starting with leadership is launched, I may also be able to congratulate girls and women on International Women’s Day 2022. Building a more diverse and inclusive workplace also makes business sense, since it is great for business and for wider society. The business case for diversity and inclusion is compelling. Getting this right means building better organizations and contributes to a better world for everybody.