Each year the ILO celebrates International Women’s Day with an event honoring women of courage and conviction, from different aspects of the world of work.

In 2009, the theme for the celebration is ‘‘Work and family: The way to care is to share!” based on overwhelming evidence that a level playing field at work, for women and men, can only be achieved by an equitable sharing of unpaid work in the home and family.

We hope that our panel can help shed light on the invisible work performed in the home and for the family – the larger share of which falls on the shoulders of women – and good practices of States and social partners – the workers and the employers – as we are honored in 2009 to have panelists from very diverse backgrounds.