International Women’s Day

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Message from Irina Bokova

Background

Putting women and women’s rights to equality on the global agenda is the moving force behind International Women’s Day. The idea of a day for women, celebrated all over the world, began at the beginning of this century in America and Europe. The focus was the movement for women’s rights and achieving universal suffrage for women. International Women’s Day really took hold between 1913 and 1917 when women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters. In December 1977 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

Since those early years, much progress has been made for women in developed and developing countries alike: in many countries, provisions guaranteeing the enjoyment of human rights without discrimination on the basis of sex have been included in constitutions; legal literacy and other measures have been introduced to alert women to their rights and to ensure their access to those rights; the world community has identified violence against women as a clear violation of women’s rights; incorporating gender perspectives into regular programmes and policies has become a priority at the United Nations and in many member states.

Although much remains to be done to achieve full equality, the voices of women are being heard. March 8th provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the achievements of women and to highlight the needs and concerns of women on national, regional and global agendas.

Examples of Issues Faced by Women

Many problems faced by women arise as a direct consequence of their gender. For example:

• Trafficking of women – Every day, in countries around the world, women and girls, desperate for economic opportunity, and seeking to follow their dreams of a better life, are lured from home by promises of jobs and security. Sadly, they too often find themselves trapped in a nightmare, turned into prostitutes, imprisoned by employers, mistreated, sexually abused and often never seen nor heard from again.

• Women and health – Often women have different and unequal access to and use of basic health resources, including primary health services for the prevention and treatment of childhood diseases, malnutrition, anemia, and health care during and after pregnancy.

• Women in armed conflict – While entire communities suffer the consequences of armed conflict, women and girls are particularly affected because of their status in society and their gender.

• Women and poverty – More than 1 billion people in the world today, the great majority of whom are women, live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in developing countries.

• Violence against women – Women’s lives continue to be endangered by violence which is directed at them simply because they are women. Violence against women knows no class, race, or age. It exists across all socio-economic groups, and it is a daily phenomenon in the lives of women throughout the world.

• Refugee women – Refugee women face ongoing violations of their human rights. Often, they are subject to unequal and inequitable access to food, water, shelter, and essential health care.

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