International Women’s Day is being celebrated on March 8 each year.

This is an event in which only women’s organizations, corporations and charities participate.

Do you know why and when the celebrations of International Women’s Day started?

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Here are some important facts about International Women’s Day:

• The exact date for the origin of celebrations was not known, but the roots go back to 1908. It was started by 15,000 women who marched across New York demanding for better pay and working hours.
• Later, on February 28, 1909 the first National Women’s Day was observed in the US.
• The idea of celebrating International Women’s Day was first suggested by Clara Zetkin of Germany in 1910. She was a leader of the ‘women’s office’ for the Social Democratic Party.  Her suggestion of dedicating a day in the year for women was accepted in a conference of 100 women from 17 counties.
• The first International Women’s Day was celebrated on March 9, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.
• Later in 1913, it was decided to transfer IWD to March 8 and each year it is being celebrated on that day.
• The UNO recognized it in 1975, and ever since it has created a theme each year for the celebration.
• The World Economic Forum states that the gender gap won’t close until 2186.
• This year’s theme is #PressforProgress.
• 2018 marks 100 years since women were given the right to vote in the UK in 1918.
• Not just for women, there is a day for men as well. International Men’s Day is being celebrated on November 19 each year in 60 countries across the globe.
• The main objective of International Men’s Day is to promote gender equality and improve gender relations as well as promote positive male role models.

Image by Markéta Machová from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)

Image Reference: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/women-s-day-international-women-s-day-3198006/