International Women’s Day
5 Ways to Celebrate IWD
Every year on March 8, thousands of events are held worldwide to celebrate and show appreciation for women’s economic, political and social achievements, while still calling for greater equality. This day has become recognized as International Women’s Day (IWD). This year, the theme is ‘Make It Happen’ – encouraging effective action for advancing and recognizing women.
In 1910, a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen, Germany. At the conference, Clara Zetkin, leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for Social Democratic Party in Germany, proposed the idea of a ‘Women’s Day’; a celebration that every year on the same day every country should press their demands for women’s rights. The conference of more than 100 women from 17 countries unanimously approved her notion, thus creating International Women’s Day (IWD).
International Women’s Day was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark and Switzerland on March 19, 1911. More than one million men and women gathered at IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, hold public office and end discrimination.
Since it’s birth, International Women’s Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration of women. In some countries, it is even an official holiday. Organizations, governments and individuals join together on March 8th at large political and social rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events to honor women’s advancements and remind others of the action still needed to ensure women’s equality.
If you want to join the celebration of women, below are five ways to do so this year.
- Use social media. Take to social media to use your voice and celebrate IWD. Interact with womensday on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin and Pinterest. Connect with them by tagging them and using the following hashtags: #MakeItHappen, #womensday, #IWD2015, #InternationalWomensDay, and #PaintItPurple. You can also lend your support by retweeting and sharing content.
- Show support at work. There are many ways to show your support at work. Display the International Women’s Day logo on your website/blog, or “paint” your website/blog purple for the day. You can also insert the IWD logo in your email signature block for the day.
- Coordinate an event. Run a webinar. Host a brunch. Hold a conference. Coordinate a rally with friends. Big or small, it doesn’t matter as long as you are focusing on celebrating women and raising awareness for gender equality.
- Participate in an event. So maybe you don’t have time to create your own event, that’s okay. You can still celebrate IWD by attending local events and activities. Search the IWD website for a list of events near you. http://www.internationalwomensday.com/esearch.asp?country=223#.VO1Qasaf_ds
- Make a donation to your favorite women’s charity/ charities. You can also make a donation to support a female-focused crowd-funding initiative. Or you can shop at small businesses run by women.
Whatever it is you do, International Women’s Day asks that you “celebrate women, call for equality – and Make It Happen”!
To learn more about IWD, visit http://www.internationalwomensday.com.
How will you celebrate International Women’s Day?