On March 8, the world celebrates International Women’s Day. The day honours women’s accomplishments and existence in general. International Women’s Day is observed as a day of recognition of not only the substance of womanhood but also of reckoning the invaluable contribution of women to global development around the world, and it is more than just a day to unveil women’s day specials in salons and shopping malls.

On February 28, 1909, the Socialist Party of America established National Women’s Day in New York. This was proposed by labour activist Theresa Malkiel to commemorate citywide protests against garment workers. Later that year, drawing inspiration from American socialists, German delegates proposed the idea of a women’s day, though no specific date was set.

The United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day in 1975, and in 1977, the UN General Assembly declared March 8 as International Women’s Day in support of women’s rights and global peace. Since then, the United Nations has commemorated the day by establishing a theme each year.

This day is significant because it celebrates women’s achievements, raises awareness about gender equality, and accelerates gender disparity, as well as fundraising for various female-focused charities.

Theme

The theme of this year’s women’s day is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. It is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67), i.e. “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls".

Aim of International Women’s Day:

The goal of International Women’s Day is to celebrate women’s accomplishments and to advocate for gender equality. This day also aims at raising awareness about gender equality so that our society’s most vulnerable members have equal rights in all fields, promoting equal participation in social, economic, cultural, and political activities.