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International Women’s Day

International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on the 8th of March every year around the world. It is a focal point in the movement for women's rights.

Background

After the Socialist Party of America organized a Women's Day in New York City on February 28, 1909, German delegates and others proposed at the 1910 International Socialist Woman's Conference that "a special Women's Day" be organized annually. The day was predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1977.

Commemoration of International Women's Day today ranges from being a public holiday in some countries to being largely ignored elsewhere. In some places, it is a day of protest; in others, it is a day that celebrates womanhood.

History and then

The earliest Women's Day observance, called "National Woman's Day," was held on February 28, 1909, in New York City, organized by the Socialist Party of America. In August 1910, an International Socialist Women's Conference was organized to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, Denmark. Inspired in part by the American socialists, German delegates and others proposed the establishment of an annual "Women's Day", although no date was specified at that conference. Delegates (100 women from 17 countries) agreed with the idea as a strategy to promote equal rights including suffrage for women.

The following year on March 19, 1911, IWD (international women's day) was marked for the first time, by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Women demanded that they be given the right to vote and to hold public office. They also protested against employment sex discrimination. In 1914, International Women's Day was held on March 8 in Germany, possibly because that day was a Sunday, and now it is always held on March 8 in all countries. On May 8, 1965, by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet International Women's Day was declared a non-working day in the USSR. It was commemorated by the communists in China from 1922.

The day was taken up by second-wave feminists. In the 1970s and 1980s, women's groups were joined by leftists and labor organizations in calling for equal pay, equal economic opportunity, equal legal rights, reproductive rights, subsidized child care, and the prevention of violence against women. In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for women's rights and world peace.

In the 21st century, in the West, the day was increasingly sponsored by major corporations and used to promote feel–good messages, rather than radical social reforms. In 2009, the British marketing firm, Aurora Ventures, set up a "International Women's Day" website with corporate sponsorship. The website began to promote hashtags as themes for the day, which became used internationally. The day was commemorated by business breakfasts and social media communications that were reminiscent of Mother's Day greetings.

Yearly commemorations

On the occasion of 2010 International Women's Day the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) drew attention to the hardships displaced women endure. On the occasion of International Women's Day 2012, the ICRC called for more action to help the mothers and wives of people who have gone missing during armed conflict.
The ICRC underlined the duty of parties to this conflict to search for the missing and provide information to the families. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) drew attention to the plight of women in prison.

Official UN Themes

Year    UN Theme

2015    Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!

2016    Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality

2017    Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030

2018    Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women's lives

2019    Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change

2020    "I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights ”