By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
It is about that time of the year again when all the beautiful women around the world ought to be honored and celebrated. It is a time dedicated for women to look inward and reflect on how far they have come, the great things they have achieved and to remind them that they matter, respected, and valued. It is indeed a very significant moment for every woman all over the globe.
Every year, the 8th day of March is the day set aside for the special International Women’s day celebration (IWD). Each year comes with a unique campaign theme for the celebration, and that of this year, 2023, is #Embrace Equity.
The campaign seeks to encourage women to challenge gender stereotypes, call out any form of discrimination, draw attention to biases and seek inclusion in every aspect of society.
The United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, while outlining the UN’s priorities for 2023 to the General Assembly, stated that gender equality is both a fundamental human right and a solution to some of the greatest global challenges, but that half of humanity is held back by the most widespread human rights abuse of today’s world.
In his own words, “gender equality is a question of power. The patriarchy with millennia behind it is reasserting itself. The United Nations is fighting back and standing up for the rights of women and girls everywhere”.
Presently, gender equality is important to the UN to the extent that it is central to the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, annually, the prolonged strive for women’s rights is marked by the International Women’s Day celebration.
Although IWD is observed and significant to many women all over the world, its history, relevance and purpose is not known by many of them. This auspicious day set out to celebrate women has a surprising history behind it. It has been observed for over a hundred years since the 1900s, a time of the rise of radical ideologies.
In 1908, there was great unrest and critical debates going on among women. At the time, women were becoming more vocal and active in campaigning for change, as oppression and inequality against the female gender kept increasing. In America, 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City demanding for shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote.
Later in 1909, as a way of marking the anniversary of the march in 1908, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Women’s Day (NWD), which was observed in the United States of America on 28th February. From then on, women in America continued to celebrate NWD every year on the last Sunday of February. At the time, it was a celebration observed only in the United States of America.
In 1910, the leader of the “Women’s Office” for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, Clara Zetkin, addressed the International Conference of Working Women held in Copenhagen, Denmark and suggested that the NWD be made an international event. At the conference, the 100 women in attendance all agreed to the idea and in 1911, the first International Women’s Day was celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and the United States of America.
IWD remained a standalone event until 1975 when the United Nations incorporated it and organized a celebration for it. In 1996, the UN began creating themes for each year’s celebration. The first-ever theme was tagged “Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future.”
Since then, IWD has been known as a global event to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, educate and increase awareness for women’s rights, equality and advancement.
However, despite the consistent strive for a fairer world, gender discrimination still seems to be at play in the world today, hence this year’s theme, “Embrace Equity.” The cold social negotiation is getting intensed and women are growing tougher.
For IWD, the colors of the day as created by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the United Kingdom are purple, which signifies dignity and justice, green which signifies hope, and white which signifies purity.
Through IWD, women all around the world are encouraged to come together, celebrate each other, help each other grow and succeed. The occasion is marked all around the world through awareness campaigns, charity, symposiums, parties and various events.
There is no limit to what women can accomplish, especially when they work together to prove that feminism is strength and prowess, not weakness at all. In the strive for equity, it is important that women do not lose their feminism.
Happy International Women’s Day! #Embrace Equity.