Posted: Thursday 8 March 2018, 13:29
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service (DFRS) has today marked International Women’s Day by pledging its support to the HeForShe campaign.
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive, Terry McDermott and Fire and Rescue Authority Chair, Kevin Buttery signed the HeForShe campaign pledge on behalf of the Service, acknowledging the need for gender equality, something DFRS advocates in both the recruitment and retention of women in the fire and rescue service. Created by UN Women, the HeForShe campaign was launched in September 2014 and to date has encouraged hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe, including Heads of State, CEOs and celebrities, to commit to creating a gender equal world.
Campaigners believe that everyone has a role to play in becoming a visible force for gender equality and by taking action and joining together, we can remove the social and cultural barriers that prevent females from fulfilling their potential and positively contributing to society. To date there have been over 1 billion gender equality actions, from men, women, boys and girls, and this continues to increase by the second.
There are many issues that still affect women in both society and in the work place, and Derbyshire’s Chief Fire Officer, Terry McDermott hopes that by pledging DFRS’s support to the campaign, discussions will be sparked amongst employees and the communities of Derbyshire.
Speaking at the signing of the HeForShe pledge, Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive Terry McDermott said: “I’m delighted to be signing the HeForShe pledge on behalf of Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service and in doing so, I hope collectively, we can help raise awareness of the issues that affect women preventing them from fulfilling their potential.
“By signing the pledge on International Women’s Day I hope that people take note of our action and explore what they too can do to support the campaign.
“As a Service we recognise that our operational workforce is not representative of the communities that we serve and the HeForShe campaign is the perfect platform to show our commitment to address this. We will continue to engage with under-represented groups, including women, encouraging them to consider a career as a Firefighter. The Service is also committed to supporting existing female firefighters, working with them to improve retention, personal development and progression with the Service.”
DFRS is encouraging employees to follow the lead of Chief Fire Officer, Terry McDermott and personally sign the HeForShe pledge to help contribute to creating a gender equal world.