A special session to commemorate International Women's Day on 25 March at ESCAP headquarters in Bangkok, with the theme, "Women Speak Up: Voices from the Informal Sector," heard messages about valuing women's informal work and their contributions to the global economy. The event included a discussion on women informal workers, addressing accountability and the need to affirm the value of women's work in the informal sector while making linkages with migration, HIV, violence against women and women's leadership. "We must have the involvement of women and girls in finding effective solutions. It is women who raise sons and daughters and are influencing children's attitudes and values about gender equality and human rights," said keynote speaker Dr. Saisuree Chutikul, a former Minister attached to the Office of the Prime Minister of Thailand and current member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. "They should have freedom to express their views, to participate in decision-making and have leadership roles in areas of their concern." "Women are more marginalized than men. And as workers, women are the bottom of the job hierarchy. They have limited access to productive resources, often working for low wages, in contractual and flexible employment, without legal or social protections or collective bargaining mechanisms, and subject to market vagaries,"