International Women's Day has been observed since 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.
In the early 1900′s women were beginning to grow tired of
being oppressed and not having any sort of voice in civil debate. In 1908,
15,000 women marched through New York City demanding fair wages, shorter hours
and voting rights. One year later, the first National Women’s Day was
celebrated in the US on February 28 and continued until 1913.
At the International Conference of Working Women in
Copenhagen in 1910, Clara Zetkin of Germany proposed that all women in every country
should celebrate on the same day their rights as women. The conference
attenders unanimously agreed and International Women’s Day was born.
At first, only
European countries celebrated the women’s day, but slowly, other countries
began to follow suit. Now, the holiday, originally called International Working
Women’s Day is an official one in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia,
Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women
only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Benin Republic and Nigeria. Each
year around the world, International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March
8. Thousands of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark
the economic, political and social achievements of women. Organizations,
governments, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations
and the media celebrate the day. Many groups around the world choose different
themes each year relevant to global and local gender issues. Save Our Needy’s
theme this year is Women Empowerment:
Key to Real
Economic Growth.
Today, Save Our Needy is celebrating all women irrespective
of age, religion, social class and race.
It is time for us all to rise up against all sorts of violence and
injustice against women all over the world.
Even Google celebrated this year’s Women’s Day – with its
latest doodle. Google is the latest organization to lend the holiday
legitimacy. Throughout the years, more and more nations have recognized
International Women's Day.
Happy Women's Day!!!