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International Women's Day 2009
100 years ago, 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York demanding shorter working hours, better pay and voting rights. This year, the pertinence of this event is being marked by the theme of 'Shaping Progress'. This date is now observed in nearly every country around the world with a focus on events large and small to remind communities and leaders of the gender inequality that still exists across the world, and to lobby political leaders for progressive policies to promote gender equality and women's rights.
| What | iwd2009 gender equality |
|---|---|
| When |
2009-03-08 00:00
2009-03-08 00:00
2009-03-08 from 00:00 to 00:00 |
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International Women's Day (IWD) is now marked as a public holiday in Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam reflecting the importance given to its observance.
GCAP incorporated International Women's Day in 2007 as the first annual date for global mobilisation, and the Feminist Task Force has led activities on that date for the last two years.
One of the great successes of GCAP action on gender issues has been the Women’s Tribunals, which have taken place in Egypt, India and Peru, as well as in New York on the occasion of the UN High Level Event on the MDGs in September 2008. At these tribunals, poor and marginalised women from across the country came together to share their testimony and make their demands for gender equality and women’s rights. The Feminist Task Force is developing a guide to support coalitions and other groups to organise further tribunals which offer a powerful accountability mechanism and open an important space for marginalised groups to be heard.
In 2009, the Mobilisation Task Force and the Feminist Task Force urge coalitions to engage, lead and support activities for International Women's Day. The emphasis will be to highlight the interlinkages between women and poverty and the global crises (food, fuel and financial) In early 2009, the Feminist Task Force will produce and distribute materials to support your efforts. The web site www.internationalwomensday.com is an excellent resource for finding existing events and registering new activities. Information will also be available at www.whiteband.org.
Some of the actions you could plan for International Women's Day include:
- Mass march, rally or protest;
- Lobby of relevant ministers;
- Women's tribunal on poverty;
- Joint media statements with women's group, women's rights activists and others;
- Opinion pieces from civil society leaders;
- Workshops on issues regarding women and the MDGs;
- Sermons in places of worship focused on a women’s empowerment;
- Petition and e-card campaigns calling on leaders to deliver on gender equality and women's rights.
