International Women’s Day is being observed on Sunday across Bangladesh, as it is around the world. Both the President and the Prime Minister have issued separate messages marking the occasion.
The United Nations has been observing the day as International Women’s Day since 1975. This year’s theme is “GIVE TO GAIN.” The day is celebrated worldwide through various programmes to highlight the need for immediate action, not just discussion, regarding women’s rights and dignity, while also celebrating women’s economic, political, and social achievements.
The theme aims to encourage everyone to contribute to establishing gender equality in society. It also promotes women’s empowerment through cooperation, support, and sharing of resources, conveying the message that the development of women benefits both society and the economy.
The observance of the day has its roots in the historical struggle of women workers to secure their rights. In 1857, women workers from textile factories in New York, United States, took to the streets to protest wage discrimination, demand fixed working hours, and oppose inhumane working conditions. The protest faced repression by government forces.
On February 28, 1909, the first international women’s conference was organised during a women’s rally by the Social Democratic Women’s Organisation in New York, under the leadership of German socialist leader Clara Zetkin. Clara, a German politician and one of the architects of the German Communist Party, later proposed at the second International Women’s Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1910, that March 8 be observed annually as International Women’s Day.
Around 100 women representatives from 17 countries attended that conference and decided that the day would be observed from 1911 as a day for women’s equal rights. Socialists from different countries came forward to observe the day, and from 1914, March 8 began to be celebrated in several countries.
The United Nations formally recognised March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1975 and called upon countries to observe it. Since then, the day has been celebrated globally with due importance, with a specific theme announced each year.
In Bangladesh, various programmes have been organised at the national level under the auspices of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to observe the day. Different offices and organisations have also undertaken diverse initiatives to mark the occasion.
Source: BSS