March 8, 2017 is International Women’s Day all over the World.
It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
International Women’s Day (IWD) 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. No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women’s Day. Many
No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women’s Day.
Many organizations declare an annual IWD theme that supports their specific agenda or cause, and some of these are adopted more widely with relevance than others.
No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women’s Day. Many organizations declare an annual IWD theme that supports their specific agenda or cause, and some of these are adopted more widely with relevance than others.
This years’ theme is “Be Bold For Change” which demands that women go beyond by taking groundbreaking action that truly drives the greatest change for the gender.
Online, Wednesday’s Google Doodle featured a litany of female firsts: the first Turkish woman to compete in the Olympics; the world’s first computer programmer; Korea’s first female judge; Egypt’s first female pilot; the first woman in space; and others.
On the ground, International Women’s Day sees thousands of conferences, gatherings, rallies, exhibitions, festivals and more each year.
In Nigeria, The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, called on governments at all levels to rise to the global challenge of ensuring gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.
The Director of Information, Office of the wife of the President, Mr Suleiman Haruna, issued the statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mrs Buhari, who congratulated the Nigerian women and women all over the world on the event, reaffirmed her commitment towards the cause of women through her initiative, “Future Assured”.
According to her, the event has provided yet another opportunity to reflect on the condition of women both at the global arena and national level with a view to providing a way forward for the betterment of the Nigerian women.
“Today is a historic day in the struggle for the upliftment of Women across the continents.
I recall with happiness the series of steps taken at different levels to drive attention to the plight of women in the areas of health, education and opportunities in the scheme of things.
“However it is my wish therefore to felicitate with fellow Nigerian women and women all over the world on this very memorable and important day,’’ she added.
In several Australian cities childcare workers orchestrated a strike to protest pay inequality and the lack of funding for early education. More than 1,000 early-years workers walked off the job at 3:20 p.m. local time, when organizers said women in Australia begin working for free, and joined International Women’s Day rallies.
According to Chinese law, women are entitled to a half-day off on International Women’s Day. For many shops and online retailers, however, the day is simply an opportunity to attract female shoppers with discounts on cosmetics, lingerie and footwear.
Chinese feminist Li Maizi, who was detained for over a month two years ago after she and four other young activists tried to hand out stickers about sexual harassment on public transport in Chinese cities for International Women’s Day, addressed an audience in London, noting “that there has been both progress and a backlash against women’s rights” since her arrest and the increasing state surveillance of NGOs.
The harrowing experience of Li and the rest of the Feminist Five means that women’s marches are unlikely to be seen this year in China, which is home to around 675 million women. And in the lead-up to International Women’s Day, Sina Weibo — the country’s popular Twitter-like micro blogging site — suspended the account of feminist blog Women’s Voices, providing no explanation for the sudden shut-down.
In Japan, marchers gathered in the capital Tokyo to mark the day. Despite recent attempts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to raise the profile of women in the workforce, ingrained sexism keeps women chronically underemployed. The country also recently ranked 163rd out of 193 countries in female representation in lower houses of parliament.
In India, a march for the One Billion Rising campaign, supported by 30 women’s groups is set to take place in capital New Delhi. Spurred into action by the gang rape and murder of a medical student Jyoti Singh in 2012, advocates have been making strides in India to beat back the culture of violence against women and help victims find justice.
Female Celebrities also took to social media to express solidarity with women all over the world:
Happy #InternationalWomensDay everyone! No matter what drama occurs amongst fanbases let’s celebrate all our icons! #HeyGirl pic.twitter.com/PuQKmdgUo7
— LADY GAGA | FOTP (@FOTPLadyGaga) March 8, 2017
Dreaming of a World Where Women have Equal Rights. 🙏🏻🌈🙌🏻💘🎉👩❤️💋👩🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏅🏆🏅🏆🌸#internationalwomensday 🌺🌎🌍👊🏻🎉…https://t.co/dg2ellDxAy pic.twitter.com/DgZ3rRq5M8 — Madonna (@Madonna) March 8, 2017
Even media platforms offered polls:
#PulsePolls #InternationalWomensDay #IWD2017 #BeBoldForChange
Who is the most important #Woman in your life?— Pulse Nigeria (@PulseNigeria247) March 8, 2017
