Happy International Women's Day!

This week we are celebrating the  International Women's Day!

International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements – from the political to the social – while calling for gender equality.

It has been observed since the early 1900s and is now recognized each year on March 8. It is not affiliated with any one group, but brings together governments, women's organizations, corporations and charities.

The day is marked around the world with arts performances, talks, rallies, networking events, conferences and marches.

Last year, there was a Google Doodle marking the celebration featuring women and girls across the world who complete the sentence ‘One day I will’, talking about their dreams and ambitions.

What's happening today in London?

The Care International March for Women is taking place on Sunday March 5, and will be led by Annie Lennox, Helen Pankhurst, Sadiq Khan and Bianca Jagger.

It begins at 12pm outside City Hall with a rally, ending with music by Melanie C, VV Brown, Kate Nash, Natasha Bedingfield, Laura Mvula​, Billy Bragg and Beth Orton. After the rally, crowds will march across iconic Tower Bridge.

How did it start?

The roots of this holiday can be traced to 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding voting rights, better pay and shorter working hours.

 A year later, the first National Woman’s Day was observed in the US on February 28,  in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America.

In 1910, a woman called Clara Zetkin – leader of the ‘women’s office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany – tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She suggested that every country should celebrate women on one day every year to push for their demands.

 A conference of more than 100 women from 17 countries agreed to her suggestion and IWD was formed. In 1911, it was celebrated for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19.

In 1913, it was decided to transfer IWD to March 8, and it has been celebrated on that day ever since. The day was only recognized by the United Nations in 1975, but ever since it has created a theme each year for the celebration.

How is IWD celebrated across the world?

Countries celebrate it in different ways. It is an official holiday in a number of places including: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia.

Other countries celebrate it in a similar way to Mother’s Day with men presenting their wives, girlfriends, mothers and female  friends with flowers and gifts.

So we’d like to congratulate all of our female students and their mothers! Happy Women’s Day! This means more than flowers and gifts. It means saying thank you for everything. Happy Women’s Day!