South Africa has been warned against embracing a bystander syndrome when it comes to issues of women's leadership and countering the scourge of femicide and other forms of violence against women. That was the message from the Executive Director of UNWOMEN as the world marked, March 8th. Underthe theme "Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 World" -- Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka has sought to highlight the urgent need to ensure that more women are in leadership positions as the world begins to build back from the impacts of a pandemic that has disproportionately affected women and girls. Sherwyn Bryce-Pease reports