International Women’s Day 2019

Info:

International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. It is a day when the world comes together to appreciate womanhood and their importance in society. The day also celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

Themes:

This year the themes for International Women’s Day are #BalanceforBetter, which is described as a “call-to-action for driving gender balance across the world” and “More Powerful Together”. The themes stress upon the need for more men to get involved in the fight against gender equality and feminism.

History:

Earlier, it was called National woman’s day and was acknowledged by the U.S. on February 28, 1909. This was done because of the labour movement which was started in 1908 where 15000 female employees went on strike in New York City to protest against poor working conditions.

National Women’s Day was recognised as International Women’s Day only in 1910 after German women’s rights activist Clara Zetkin suggested at an International Conference.

Why March 8?

It was on this day that women in Soviet Russia gained the right the vote in 1917, hence March 8 was declared a national holiday for them. The United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for women’s rights and world peace in 1977.