International Women’s Day: What to be aware of

Every year International Women’s Day, also known as IWD for short, is celebrated to highlight social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women all around the world. Occurring for well over a century, the seeds for the global celebration were planted in 1908, when 15,000 American women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. 

Establishing International Women’s Day

The idea to mark the day to celebrate women internationally came from an American woman named Clara Zetkin, a German Marxist theorist, communist activist, and advocate for women’s rights. Zetkin suggested the idea in 1910 at an  International Socialist Women’s Conference organized ahead of the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Attending the conference were 100 women there, from 17 countries, who agreed on her suggestion unanimously as a strategy to promote equal rights, including women’s suffrage.

Why March 8?

Zetkin’s idea in 1910 for an International Women’s Day had no fixed date. However, the following year saw the first demonstrations and commemorations of International Women’s Day across Europe with over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland getting together to mark the day. IWD was officially first made a national holiday on March 8 after women in Soviet Russia in 1917 (the beginning of the February Revolution) gained suffrage leading to the adoption of the date by socialist movements and communist countries around the world. The holiday was also associated with far-left movements and governments until its adoption by the global feminist movement in the late 1960s. The IWD became a mainstream global holiday following its adoption by the United Nations in 1977. The first theme adopted by the UN was “Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future”.

Is International Women’s Day a holiday? 

IWD is an official holiday in many countries including: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia. Only women in China, Madagascar and Nepal enjoy a holiday on March 8. In Germany, Berlin’s parliament approved a bill in 2019 to make International Women’s Day a public holiday.

On the idea of making International Women’s Day a holiday, many groups do not promote the idea as they believe IWD is a day of activism providing a highly considerable and visible opportunity for impact.   

Colors symbolizing International Women’s Day

Believed to be originating from the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the UK in the year 1908, purple, green and white are the colors of International Women’s Day. Purple signifies justice and dignity, and being loyal to the cause. Green symbolizes hope. White represents purity, albeit a controversial concept. 

What makes International Women’s Day significant?

Adding to celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, the International Women’s Day also aims to mark a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The official website dedicated to the movement lists

• Celebrating women’s achievements
• Educating and raising awareness for women’s equality
• Calling for positive change advancing women
• Lobbying for accelerated gender parity and Fundraising for female-focused charities 

As major objectives behind marking the day

Is an International Women’s Day still needed?

According to the latest Global Gender Gap Report, the global gender gap has been closed by 68.1% in 2022. At the current rate of progress, the report estimates a period of at least 132 years to reach full parity. This represents a slight four-year improvement compared to the 2021 estimate (136 years to parity). However, the report denotes that the improvement does not compensate for the generational loss which occurred between 2020 and 2021 as the trends leading up to 2020, the gender gap was set to close within 100 years. 

Supporting International Women’s Day

Countries around the world mark March 8 in many unique ways.  In some countries, the occasion is treated as an opportunity to praise and honor women – while in some other countries, International Women’s Day is still a time for activism and protest.

As the movement does not belong or origin from any specific country, group, nor organization no governments, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network, or media hub was appointed or reportedly will be ever appointed to be solely responsible for IWD. 

Ever since the movement’s establishment and recognition by the collective action and shared ownership for driving gender parity is what has made the International Women’s Day impactful. World-renowned feminist, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem once explained “The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”