International Women's Day 2017
By Khazima Munaf
7 March 2017
Since the early 1900s, International Women’s Day is celebrated worldwide to commemorate women’s achievements in various fields and to continue fighting for a necessary change.Although IWD celebrations started in 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding basic rights for gender equality like voting, better pay and shorter working hours, we continue celebrating it because the original aim has still not been realized. Persisting gender pay gap, and a systematic social and political suppression of women in many parts of the world attest to why statistics show that globally women’s education, health and gender-based violence is still worse than that of men.
According to the World Economic Forum, the gender gap won't close until 2186.
Informed and active women from all over the world gather on this day to force the world to recognize these inequalities while rejoicing in the achievements of those women who overcame such social, political, and economic barriers.
It is not affiliated with any one group, but brings together governments, women's organizations, corporations, and charities and is marked around the world with arts performances, talks, rallies, networking events, conferences and marches.
The theme for IWD 2017 is #BeBoldForChange - encouraging people to take groundbreaking action to help drive gender egalitarianism. A call for forging a better working world- more inclusive and gender equal world, the official IWD website elaborated …
Each one of us — with women, men and non-binary people joining forces — can be a leader within our own spheres of influence by taking bold pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity. Through purposeful collaboration, we can help women advance and unleash the limitless potential offered to economies the world over.
While many countries have a public holiday on this day, others celebrate it in a similar way to Mother’s Day, with men presenting their wives, girlfriends, mothers and female friends with appreciation.
