International Women’s Day: Realizing Women’s Rights

International Women’s Day (IWD) events are held worldwide on March 8 annually. The tagline for International Women’s Day of this year is “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights.” This day is to applaud the significance of women as well as many of the contributions and realizations of women throughout history.

On the occasion of IWD, women across the world come together to force the world to recognize these inequalities and celebrate the achievements of women who have overcome these barriers.

On this day, women are acknowledged for their realizations regardless of their nationality, age, race, linguistic, cultural, political or economic status. No one authority or organization is particularly accountable for International Women’s Day, as the day is recognized as more of a mutual exertion throughout the world. International Women’s Day has been observing annually for more than a century as a day focused on celebration, unanimity, reflection, action, and advocacy, which varies in emphasis from place to place.

IWD is an opportunity to transform this momentum into action, to empower women in all settings, rural and urban, and celebrate the activists who are working relentlessly to claim women’s rights and realize their full potential.

The first International Women’s Day occurred on March 19 in 1911. The opening event, which included rallies and organized meetings, was a big success in European countries such as Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. The March 19 date was chosen because it commemorated the day that the Prussian king assured to commence votes for women in 1848. The promise gave hope for parity but it was a promise that he failed to keep. The International Women’s Day date was moved to March 8 in 1913.

In Bangladesh, this day is celebrated through various programs every year. Various women, including political, community, and business leaders, as well as leading educators, inventors, entrepreneurs, and television personalities, are usually invited to speak at various events on the day. Such events may include seminars, conferences, luncheons, dinners or breakfasts. The messages are given at these events often focus on various themes such as innovation, the portrayal of women in the media, or the importance of education and career opportunities.

Education is essential in reducing discrimination and violence against girls and women and Bangladesh has made great progress in this area. The country has already achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education. Over the recent decades Bangladesh has brought major improvements in the lives of children, adolescents and women in a relatively short time span.

International Women’s Day focuses on women empowerment. The contribution of women is much needed for the socio-economic development of a country. The Government of Bangladesh emphasis on women empowerment aiming to ensure sustainable development of infrastructure and livelihood in every sphere of this country. Nowadays we cannot negate the contribution of women in our society.

The vital objective is parity between men and women but that cannot transpire if women themselves are not equivalent to one another.