08-03-2014 - INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

The theme of 2014 IWD declared as :

'Equality for Women is Progress for All'

         International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women's Day is a national holiday.
     Suffragettes campaigned for women's right to vote. The word 'Suffragette' is derived from the word "suffrage" meaning the right to vote. International Women's Day honours the work of the Suffragettes, celebrates women's success, and reminds of inequities still to be redressed. 

The first International Women's Day event was run in 1911 .
          International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

1908 :  Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.
1909:In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910: In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.

1911:   Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.
1913-1914: On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.

1917:  On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.

1918 - 1999:  Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.
2000 and beyond:  IWD is now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

           The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

              However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

          Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more. 

          Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.

So make a difference, think globally and act locally !! 

Make everyday International Women's Day. 

Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

How equality for women is progress for all?

Several people also spoke on how equality for women would be the headway to solving many of the world's problems such as poverty.

"Women spend the majority of their income on the well-being of their children and family. Raising women's labour force participation increases economic growth," 

"By ending women's poverty, we will sustainably and significantly reduce extreme poverty worldwide." 

Equality for women can also help combat global environmental challenges, including land degradation and climate change.

"Today, more than 2 billion people depend on small scale farmers, and women play a pivotal role. They make up nearly half of the agricultural labor force," 

"Securing their equality would not only benefit them, but everyone as well."

"If we want to increase, our productivity, our food security and improve our resilience to climate change, if we want to reverse outmigration, water conflicts, civil wars and state failure, we need policy incentives that, at the very least, place female land users, farmers and producers on par with males in their access to resources, knowledge and decision-making," 

International Women’s Day Themes:

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually using a particular theme. Some of the year wise themes are given below:

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1975 was 

           “United Nations recognizes International Women’s Day”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1996 was 

           “Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1997 was 

           “Women and the Peace Table”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1998 was 

          “Women and Human Rights”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1999 was

           “World Free of Violence against Women”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2000 was 

           “Women Uniting for Peace”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2001 was 

           “Women and Peace: Women Managing Conflicts”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2002 was 

           “Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunities”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2003 was 

           “Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2004 was 

            “Women and HIV / AIDS”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2005 was 

           “Gender Equality Beyond 2005; Building a More Secure Future”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2006 was 

           “Women in Decision-making”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2007 was 

           “Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2008 was 

            “Investing in Women and Girls”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2009 was 

           “Women and Men United to End Violence against Women and Girls”.

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2010 was 

           “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All”.

·        The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2011 was 

       “Equal Access to Education, Training, and Science and Technology: Pathway to  Decent Work for Women”. 

·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2012 was 

          “Empower Rural Women, End Poverty and Hunger”.
·         The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2013 was 

          “A Promise is a Promise: Time for Action to End Violence against Women”.

   (extracted & compiled from other websites)