International Women's Day

Celebrated on 8th March every year, International Women's Day is a focal point in the women's rights movement. The International Socialist Woman's Conference 1910 suggested that a Women's Day should be held annually after the Socialist Party of America organized a Women's Day on February 28th, 1909 in New York. Women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8th and it became a national holiday there. This day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries as the women’s until it were adopted in 1975 by the United Nations.

Today, International Women's Day is celebrated as a public holiday in some countries and largely ignored elsewhere. In some places, it is a day of protest; and in others, it is a day which celebrates womanhood. The earliest Women's Day observance is called "National Woman's Day," which was held on February 28th, 1909 in New York. This is organized by the Socialist Party of America at the suggestion of Theresa Malkiel. Though there have been claims which the day was commemorating a protest by women garment workers in New York on March 8th, 1857, researchers have described this as a myth.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) drew attention to the hardships displaced women endure on the occasion of International Women's Day 2010. The displacement of populations is one of the important consequences of today's armed conflicts. It affects women in a host of ways. The International Women's Day 2017’s theme was "Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030". The UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a message in support of International Women's Day commented on how women's rights were being lowered, restricted, and reversed. With men still in leadership and prime positions and a widening economic gender gap, he called for change "by giving empowerment to women at all levels, enabling their voices to be heard and giving them control over their own lives and over the future of our world".

The International Women's Day 2018’s theme was 'Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives'. This day is an official holiday in many countries including Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, China (for women only), Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Nepal, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women's_Day