On Sat 11 Mar almost 50 women from around our Soroptimist London Chilterns Region met in London including Members of SI Greater London.
We started the day with a reading about International Women’s Day “International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day recognising and appreciating women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements over the decades. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
Woman’s Day was first observed in 1909 in the United States and it is only in 1977 that the United Nations officially declared International Women’s Day celebration on March 8. International Women’s Day (IWD) is a collective day of global celebration and is also an official holiday in several countries like Belarus, Armenia, Albania, Brazil, and Cameroon. No one government, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women’s Day. Many organisations declare an annual IWD theme that supports their specific agenda or cause, and some of these are adopted more widely with relevance than others.
“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organisation but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights,” says world-renowned feminist, journalist and social and political activist Gloria Steinem. Thus International Women’s Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action – whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, International Women’s Day has been occurring for well over a century – and continues to grow from strength to strength. On this occasion, we should endeavour to build a better world where men and women live harmoniously, free of violence and discrimination.”
There is more about International Women’s Day on these websites: www.internationalwomensday.com www.un.org/en/events/womensday/ www.sigbi.org/members/2017/international-womens-day/ www.soroptimistinternational.org/events/international-womens-day/