In looking for a photo for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2022 I could not find a more
perfect one than this by the United Nations. The theme for this year’s IWD was to be
“Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”
the UN message, in part, is this: “Advancing gender equality in the context of the climate crisis and disaster risk reduction is one of
the greatest global challenges of the 21st century. Women are increasingly being recognized as more
vulnerable to climate change impacts than men, as they constitute the majority of the world’s poor
and are more dependent on the natural resources that climate change threatens the most. At the
same time, women and girls are effective and powerful leaders and change-makers for climate
adaptation and mitigation. They are involved in sustainability initiatives around the world, and their
participation and leadership results in more effective climate action.”
There have been so many great women in Surrey that have and
continue to fight the good fight for the environment. Thank you to each of them.
As important as that theme is, I simply could not think of the women that impact us every day
as we have seen our world turn upside down in the past 2 years. As we leave (hopefully) a
pandemic in our world, we continue to face an endemic of overdose drug poisonings, and now
an invasion and war in Ukraine.
With sadness and pressures abound it is now and will always
be, women that will work to support and provide hope in what often seems like hopeless
situations. Blessings to those strong, powerful, committed women who, in the face of the
worst, somehow manage to keep going in the hope that tomorrow will be brighter.
Certainly, our heart goes out to every woman in Ukraine that, against the odds, is trying to keep her
family safe, together, and whole.
Our unwavering thanks to those on the front lines of health
care who, have helped us deal with a pandemic that changed us as a society – they were there
when we needed them most.
And sincere gratitude to the unsung soldiers – the frontline workers, outreach workers and service providers who have worked tirelessly in the face of the horrors and deaths of the opioid crisis.