International Women's Day!

On March 8, 1857, hundreds of women workers in garment and textile factories in New York City staged a strike against low wages, long working hours and inhumane working conditions. In August 1910, at a meeting in Copenhagen, the Women's Socialist International decided to commemorate the strike by observing an annual International Women's Day (IWD). This is where we can find the roots of IWD. In 1975, during International Women's Year, the United Nations (UN) began celebrating March 8 as IWD.
In adopting its resolution on the observance of Women's Day, the UN General Assembly cited two reasons: to recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security.

For women, the Day offers an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is also an opportunity to unite, network and mobilize for meaningful change.

In recent years, though world's women are referred to as having made tremendous progress towards achieving equality with men, there exists huge disparity when it comes to women of developing countries. Women continue to be among the poorest: the majority of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor are women. Three-quarters of the women over 25 in much of Asia and Africa are illiterate. On the average, women receive between 30 and 40 per cent less pay than men earn for the same work. Everywhere, women continue to be victims of violence.
Efforts should be made to enhance their access to education and proper health care and their participation in the paid labour force. Legislation that promises equal opportunities for women and respect for their human rights has to be adopted by many countries.