International Women’s Day 2019

International Women’s Day 2019 was celebrated all over the world on Friday, 08^th of March.

International Women’s Day theme 2019 was “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change”. The theme was also supported by the hash tag #BalanceforBetter across the social media platforms.

Berlin declared International Women’s Day as a public holiday. The parliament of Berlin announced that onwards every year International Women’s Day will be a public holiday. It was considered as a step towards spreading awareness about the women rights and equality.

Google celebrated International Women’s Day by dedicating a Doodle for women. The doodle consisted with ‘Women’ written in 11 different languages and clicking on it opened a slideshow which contained 14 inspirational quotes from world’s most successful women who carved a niche in their respective fields. It contained quotes from personalities like Mary Kom, NL Beno Zephine, Dr. Mae Jemison and other most successful women in the world.

IWD 2019 was also celebrated at the UN Headquarter with various activities which were attended by the women from the field of science, technology, engineering etc. The event was organised by UN Women, the UN agency which is dedicated to promote gender equality and women empowerment in the world.

In India, an International Women’s Film Festival was organised from 08^th March to 10^th March 2019. The festival was conducted by Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI) at various locations across the country. It mainly showcased the films made by the world’s finest women filmmakers. The festival was started by a short film of Kazakhstan named “Su (Water)”.

Highlights of International Women’s Day in 2018

* On this day, the Prime Minister of India tweeted that he was inspired by a 106 years old woman, Kunwar Bai from Chhattisgarh who sold 7 of her goats (her only source of livelihood) in order to build a toilet worth Rs. 22,000 in her village.

PM said that “Her contribution towards a Swachh Bharat can never be forgotten. I am deeply inspired by her noble gesture”. “I will always cherish the time when I had the opportunity to seek Kunwar Bai’s blessings during one of my visits to Chhattisgarh”. “Though she passed away earlier this year but she will live in our hearts always for her daring deeds towards clean India”.

* On International Women’s Day 2018, Google highlighted 12 women artists (Francesca Sanna, Anna Haifisch, Estelí Meza, Tillie Walden, Chihiro Takeuchi, Isuri, Karabo Poppy Moletsane, Laerte, Philippa Rice, Saffa Khan, Kaveri Gopalakrishnan, and Tunalaya Dunn) from 12 different countries in order to represent a unique story using those special moments, persons, or events which have impacted their lives as women to invoke feelings of understanding and empathy.

About International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day “IWD” is also known as the International Working Women’s Day or United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace which is celebrated every year on 8^th of March all across the world in different regions of the countries in order to focus the achievements and contributions of the women in the society. The celebration of this event varies from region to region.

Generally, it is celebrated to provide respect to whole women fraternity, appreciate them and to express love for them. As women are the major part of the society and plays a great role in the economic, political, and social activities, international women’s day is commemorated to remember and appreciate women’s all over achievements.

International women’s day celebration was started celebrating as a socialist political event during which the holiday is proclaimed in many countries. At this event celebration, men express their love, care, appreciation and affection towards women just like the event of Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. It is celebrated every year with a preplanned and particular theme of the year to strengthen the political and social awareness towards the women struggles and their precious contributions.

Why International Women’s Day is Celebrated

In the month of August in 1910, a meeting (organized by the International Women’s Conference) of the Socialist Second International was held in Copenhagen to establish the yearly celebration of the International women’s day. Finally, the annual celebration of International Woman’s Day was established by the support of American socialists and German Socialist Luise Zietz. However, no particular date was decided in that meeting. The event celebration was decided to promote the equal rights for all women.

It was first celebrated on 19^th of March in 1911 by the millions of people in Austria, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. Variety of programs was held like demonstrations, women parade, banners and etc. Another demand of voting, holding public office and removing sex discrimination in employment was kept in front by the women. It was celebrated in America as a National Women’s Day to the last Sunday of the February every year. It was first celebrated by the Russian women in 1913 at last Sunday of February. A rally by the women (members of the Australian Builders Labourers Federation) was held in Sydney in 1975.

International women’s day celebration of 1914 was held on 8^th of March. From then, it was started celebrating everywhere on 8^th of March. The 1914 event celebration in the Germany was especially held for the women’s right to vote. During the 1917 year celebration, women of Saint Petersburg demanded the “Bread and Peace”, end of the World War I as well as Russian food shortage. Gradually, it was started celebrating in various communist and socialist countries such as in China from 1922, in Spanish communists from 1936 and etc.

How International Women’s Day is Celebrated

International Women’s Day is a special event which is celebrated worldwide on 8th of March by the people including women leaders from the business, political, community, educational institutions, inventors, TV personalities and etc. It is celebrated by organizing variety of programs like seminars, women parade, conferences, banner, debates, presentations, speech, competitive activities, luncheons, women’s issues, dinners, breakfasts including other women rights promotional activities. It is celebrated to enhance the worldwide awareness about women, their rights, contributions, importance of education, career opportunities and etc.

Female teachers are given gifts by their students, parents by their children, sisters by their brother, daughter by their fathers and etc. Most of the business organizations, government and non government offices, educational institutions are closed at this day. Generally, people wear purple ribbons while celebrating this event.

International Women’s Day Celebration in India

International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the India by the Indian people with great zeal and passion on 8^th of March to increase the awareness about women’s rights. This event celebration plays a great role in distributing the real message about the women’s right and their place in the society. It promotes the living condition of the women by solving their social issues. Global gathering takes place at this day to celebrate it in special way through different activities like conferences, awards distribution, festivals, fun runs, exhibitions, corporate events, speaking events, concert performances, online digital gatherings, etc.

International Women’s Day Themes

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually using a particular theme. Some of the year wise themes are given below:

The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1975 was “United Nations recognizes International Women’s Day”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1996 was “Celebrating the Past, Planning for the Future”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1997 was “Women and the Peace Table”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1998 was “Women and Human Rights”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 1999 was “World Free of Violence against Women”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2000 was “Women Uniting for Peace”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2001 was “Women and Peace: Women Managing Conflicts”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2002 was “Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunities”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2003 was “Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2004 was “Women and HIV/AIDS”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2005 was “Gender Equality Beyond 2005; Building a More Secure Future”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2006 was “Women in Decision-making”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2007 was “Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2008 was “Investing in Women and Girls”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2009 was “Women and Men United to End Violence against Women and Girls”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2010 was “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2011 was “Equal Access to Education, Training, and Science and Technology: Pathway to Decent Work for Women”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2012 was “Empower Rural Women, End Poverty and Hunger”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2013 was “A Promise is a Promise: Time for Action to End Violence against Women”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2014 was “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2015 was “Empowering Women – Empowering Humanity:Picture It!” (by UN), “Re-thinking Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in 2015 and beyond” (by UNESCO) and “breaking through” (by Manchester City Council).
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2016 was “Make it Happen”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2017 was “Be Bold For Change”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day celebration of 2018 was “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives” and “#PressforProgress”.
The theme of the International Women’s Day 2019 was – “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change”.

International Women’s Day Quotes

Following are the quotes of International Women’s Day:

“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.”
“Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of a man at twice its natural size.”
“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!”
“By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacation-less class.”
“A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.”
“Whatever glory belongs to the race for a development unprecedented in history for the given length of time, a full share belongs to the womanhood of the race.”
“The sadness of the women’s movement is that they don’t allow the necessity of love. See, I don’t personally trust any revolution where love is not allowed.”
“One cannot be always laughing at a man without now and then stumbling on something witty.”
“Feminism is an entire world view or gestalt, not just a laundry list of women’s issues.”
“So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don’t somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?”
“God gave women intuition and femininity. Used properly, the combination easily jumbles the brain of any man I’ve ever met.”
“The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world.”
“Feminism’s agenda is basic: It asks that women not be forced to ‘choose’ between public justice and private happiness.”
“Because man and woman are the complement of one another, we need woman’s thought in national affairs to make a safe and stable government.”
“All the world’s a stage, and it’s a dead easy guess which sex has all the speaking parts.”
“Women are leaders everywhere you look–from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes.”
“In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”
“One is not born a woman, one becomes one.”
“Women are the real architects of society.”
“Dream the dreams that have never been dreamt.”
“Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity.”
“No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion.”