Updated: Oct 4, 2018
Mahati Ganji
“On international Women’s Day, let us all pledge to do everything we can to overcome entrenched prejudice, support engagement and activism, and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.” – UN Secretary-General, António Guterres
International Women’s Day (IWD), is celebrated on March 8th every year. The earliest observance of Women's Day was held on February 28, 1909 in New York and was organized by the Socialist Party of America. The United Nations began celebrating International Women's Day during the proclaimed International Women's Year, 1975. In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 8th as the UN Day for Women's Rights and World Peace. Every year since 1996, International Women’s Day has a theme to help promote equal rights and empowerment. This year, the UN theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030.’ It is the next, logical step of last year’s theme: ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality,’ which is an independent campaign run by Ernst & Young with a #PledgeForParity social media hashtag. This year Ernst & Young is promoting the theme as #BeBoldForChange. A fitting theme since women’s rights, as António Guterres put it, are being, "reduced, restricted and reversed.” Due to the flaring gender gap and men (commonly) in control, he called for change, "By empowering women at all levels, enabling their voices to be heard and giving them control over their own lives and over the future of our world."
At Missouri S&T, International Women’s Day is celebrated along with many other events during Women’s History Month. Women’s History Month kicks off on March 1st every year. During this month, the committee of Leadership and Cultural programs usually helps by organizing a community service project, some activities, and speeches planned for International Women’s Day and to honor and recognize women. The Women’s Inspirational Awards and Chocolate Lounge are held on March 21st in the Ozark room inside Havener. The awards are presented at the Chocolate Lounge, where the participants can snack on delicious treats while congratulating this year’s student, staff and faculty winners. These awards are also co-sponsored by the Student Diversity, Outreach and Women’s programs (SDOWP). The mission of the SDOWP is to actively increase the number and diversity of prepared and motivated first through twelfth-grade students through STEM enrichment focused camps and workshops; and to recruit, support, and retain female and traditionally underrepresented minority students in STEM fields through educational and professional development resources. The women’s program offers many pre-collegiate and summer programs, scholarships, professional development resources, and inductions to the women’s hall of fame.
Moreover, this outreach does not stop wth future students, there is a S&T student chapter is part of a national organization, called the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), that encourages and supports women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, and to demonstrate the value of diversity.
Women have a major impact on our lives through various roles that they play. It can be being a mother, one that lies the basic foundation in our lives and is always our strongest supporter, being a sister, our biggest enemy yet our best friend, being a wife, one that becomes the special pillar on which we plan to build our world, or being a daughter, the special little girl, whose smile never fails to brighten up your day. We should celebrate and cherish them everyday, but nevertheless, this women’s day, lets us proclaim our love and respect towards all the women in the world for being the best and the most unique creation we have been blessed with. Below is a short summary of the agenda relating to the 2030 themes.
Some key targets of the 2030 Agenda (http://www.un.org/en/events/womensday/) :
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes.
By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.
End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
http://womenwatch.unwomen.org/international-womens-day-history
