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HISTORY International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, raternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. Following is a brief chronology of the most important events: 1909 In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913. 1910 The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance. 1911 As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day. 1913-1914 As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913.Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters. 1917 With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote.That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere. Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights. The Role of the United Nations Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: • promotion of legal measures; • mobilization of public opinion and international action; • training and research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics; and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups. Today a central organizing principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society's most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment, of the world's women. Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information--DPI/1878--January 1997 The IWD Colours Purple, green and white are the official international women's colours. The colours originated from the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), in the UK in 1908. The colours were said to represent: • white for purity in public as well as private life • purple for justice, dignity, self-reverence and self-respect (and representing the women's vote) • green for hope and new life. The colours unified the women's movement and emphasised the femininity of the suffragettes. The tricolour of the WSPU soon became a visual cue for the women's movement in other countries. Purple, green and white were worn on International Women's Day and were used for other women's movement banners and posters. More recently, two changes have occurred: the use of the colour white has more recently been rejected as 'purity' is a controversial issue and attitudes towards the role of 'purity' from women differ greatly the introduction of the colour gold representing 'a new dawn' has been commonly used to represent the second wave of feminism1. See the IWD website http://www.internationalwomensday.com/ 1 In simple terms, feminism is the belief in social, political and economic equality of the sexes, and a movement organized around the belief that gender should not be the pre-determinant factor shaping a person's social identity or socio-political or economic rights. |
Publicly owned and managed water services are essential for women’s equality. Access to water is essential for any poverty reduction strategy and in order to achieve gender equality. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, public sector unions around the world are calling on governments to reaffirm their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and to reduce by half the number of people without access to water by the year 2015. Women and girls are by far the most affected by the lack of access to water, a fundamental human right. In South Africa, collectively, women and girls spend 40 millions hours per year fetching water. This is time they do not spend on other activities, such as school and paid work. Hans Engelberts, General Secretary of Public Services International (PSI) stated “Water privatisation has not brought quality water services to people. Governments must accept their responsibility to provide safe, affordable and sufficient access to water. The social, economic and environmental costs of failing to provide water and sanitation are far greater than the resources needed to provide for these fundamental needs.” From 8 March to 22 March, World Water Day, women’s committees of PSI affiliates are organising a range of activities to highlight the fundamental right to water, including a postcard writing campaign to call on governments to live up to their commitments. In the Caribbean, the Antigua and Barbuda Public Services Association will hold workplace discussions on the impact of water privatisation on women and communities. In Thailand, PSI affiliates, together with other NGOs are organising a rally to call on the government to keep water in public hands and to invest in water development. In Lebanon, the women’s committee of the Water Union of Beirut and Mount Lebanon are organising a lunchtime forum. Trade unions in Indonesia are also mobilising to demand that water remain in public hands. The labour delegation at the 2007 session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which this year focuses on the girl child, has used the opportunity to raise the issue of quality public services, including access to health, education and water. At a panel event organised jointly by the ITUC, Education International and PSI, Helen Maunga, Vice Chair of the PSI World Women’s Committee highlighted the importance of quality public services in achieving gender equality and eliminating discrimination against women and the girl child: “When countries fail to invest in education, health, water, social, municipal and other public services, it is women and the girl child who suffer most”, she told the audience. PSI has produced a women and water campaign package, including an information leaflet, a poster, a sticker, and a postcard. Additional materials, including audio materials, are available on the PSI website: http://www.world-psi.org/water2007
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