International Women’s Day
Background
Putting women and women’s rights to equality on the global agenda is the moving force behind International Women’s Day. The idea of a day for women, celebrated all over the world, began at the beginning of this century in America and Europe. The focus was the movement for women’s rights and achieving universal suffrage for women. International Women’s Day really took hold between 1913 and 1917 when women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters. In December 1977 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.
Since those early years, much progress has been made for women in developed and developing countries alike: in many countries, provisions guaranteeing the enjoyment of human rights without discrimination on the basis of sex have been included in constitutions; legal literacy and other measures have been introduced to alert women to their rights and to ensure their access to those rights; the world community has identified violence against women as a clear violation of women’s rights; incorporating gender perspectives into regular programmes and policies has become a priority at the United Nations and in many member states.
Although much remains to be done to achieve full equality, the voices of women are being heard. March 8th provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the achievements of women and to highlight the needs and concerns of women on national, regional and global agendas.
To honor the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign called Join me on the Bridge on International Women’s Day: March 8, 2010.
On that day, we will bring women from Rwanda and Congo together in peace on a bridge between their countries to demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and development. At the same time and in solidarity, we will bring women (and men!) together on bridges throughout the world, creating a truly global movement that says NO! to war and YES! to peace and hope.
March 8, 2010
- New York City, US
- Millennium Bridge, UK
Check the library and view more!
Zainab Salbi on HuffPo
Founder & CEO of Women for Women International, Zainab Salbi, contributes to the Huffington Post.
Kate Spade & Marie Claire
Kate Spade New York shares with Marie Claire about partnership with Women for Women International.
Ann
Women day is the wonderful day for me.
As women we have to come together and say no for discrimination. without us women the world is incomplete, why are we not valued?
its time for us to wake up and stand for our rights.
Hi to all women and have a great day.
Celebrate!!!!!!!!