What Is It?

International Women’s Day (March 8) 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.

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, but it works to bring those organizations together.

#BeBoldForChange is this year’s theme – a call on the masses or call on yourself to help forge a better working world – a more inclusive, gender equal world. Let us  know what you are doing for International Women’s Day this year in the comments section!

This is a great day to:

• Celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women because visibility and awareness help drive positive change for women
• Declare bold actions you’ll take as an individual or organization to help progress the gender agenda because purposeful action can accelerate gender parity across the world

Why It’s Needed?

According to The Telegraph, a British newspaper, “The original aim – to achieve full gender equality for women the world – has still not been realised. A gender pay gap persists across the globe and women are still not present in equal numbers in business or politics. Figures show that globally, women’s education, health and violence towards women is still worse than that of men.” The World Economic Forum predicts the gender gap won’t close entirely until 2186. This is too long to wait. So around the world, International Women’s Day provides an important opportunity for ground breaking action that can truly drive greater change for women.

[su_quote cite=”Ayn Rand”]The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.[/su_quote]