The International Women's Day, celebrated every 8th of March is a "strong call to action," according to a representative from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

"We celebrate but we also recognize the enormous obstacles that women face from a structural discrimination, marginalization, violence to cascading crisis that affect them first and worst, to the denial of their personal autonomy and rights over their bodies and lives," Gustavo Gonzales, UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines said during the International Women's Day celebration at SM Aura hosted by the Philippine Commission on Women.

He noted that women live in a world where they "enjoy less than two-thirds of the legal rights available to men."

"Gender equality is a question of power. It's a political issue. We live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture," Gonzales said.

He also said that women are at a higher risk of being injured in a car accident because seats and safety belts are designed for default men.

"Women have a higher fatality rate from heart attacks because diagnostic tools are designed for default men," he continued.

And with women occupying just 26 percent of the jobs in artificial intelligence, Gonzales said it's not surprising that many of the algorithms are biased towards men.

"Every time we ensure a gender balance composition at the government level, in business corporations, in local government units, academe, cultural and sports association, in international organizations like the UN, we are not just fixing a long overdue political balance, but we are building more inclusive, just, and sustainable societies," Gonzales said.

Gender pay gap

Worldwide, he noted, women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn.

Citing the latest research by the World Economic Forum, Gonzales said it will take until 2255 to close the gender pay gap.

"The gender pay gap is one of the reasons why 70 percent of the world's poor are women and girls," he noted.

"Another reason why 12 billion women and girls do some unpaid care work around the world every day," he added, noting that it is three times more than what men do.

In some communities, women can spend 14 hours a day cooking, cleaning, fetching water, and caring for children and the elderly.