…Executive Director Michelle Bachelet

UNITED Nations Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet, has said that UN Women’s vision is a world where men and women have equal opportunities and capacities and the principles of gender equality are embedded in the development, peace and security agendas.

UN Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet
She has stressed, in her message on the occasion of International Women’s Day, that realizing this vision involves opening up spaces for women’s political leadership, as trade and peace negotiators, as heads of corporations; it involves freeing women from gender-based violence and convincing key policy makers that where women fully contribute to their economies and societies, the gains for everyone are greatly increased.
According to her, evidence shows that where women have access to good education, good jobs, land and other assets, national growth and stability are enhanced, lower maternal mortality, improved child nutrition, greater food security and less risk of HIV and AIDS are seen.
“Men and women around the world who share this vision have a new global champion in UN Women to help make our collective vision a reality,” Bachelet said.
International Women’s Day, celebrated yesterday, was commemorated for the first time on 19th March, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, following its establishment during the Socialist International meeting the prior year. More than one million women and men attended rallies on that first commemoration.
In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating 8th March as International Women’s Day.
Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.
Organisations, governments and women’s groups around the world choose different themes each year that reflect global and local gender issues.
International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday.
To put things into context, suffragettes campaigned for women’s right to vote. The word ‘Suffragette’ is derived from the word “suffrage” meaning the right to vote and International Women’s Day honours the work of the Suffragettes, celebrates women’s success, and reminds of inequities still to be redressed.
International Women’s Day has been observed since in the early 1900’s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialis1ed world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
This year’s celebrations are commemorated under the theme: ‘Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women’.