Happy International Women’s Day 2021. Every year, people around the world mark this day as a way to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements.
A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.
From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge, according to the International Women’s Day website.
IWD 2021 campaign theme: #ChooseToChallenge
#ChooseToChallenge is the theme for this year's International Women's Day, which is observed each year on March 8. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.
History
The first Woman’s Day was observed in 1909 on February 28 in the US. The Socialist Party of America ‘designated this day in honor of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York where women protested against working conditions.’ The next year, in a meeting in Copenhagen, it was decided that March 19 would be marked as Women’s Day after 100 women from 17 countries approved. However, during World War I, women in Russia wanted to observe the last Sunday of February as Women’s Day but in 1917, according to the Gregorian calendar, the Sunday fell on March 8. And by 1975, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8.
International Women's Day is a day of celebration around the world, and an official holiday in dozens of countries. Afghanistan, Cuba, Vietnam, Uganda, Mongolia, Georgia, Laos, Cambodia, Armenia, Belarus, Montenegro, Russia, and Ukraine are just some of the places where March 8th is recognized as an official holiday.
On this day, just like on Mother’s Day, men present gifts to their mothers, girlfriends and wives.