International Women’s Day is a celebration of women’s achievements in social, economic, cultural and political spheres and a call to action to accelerate gender parity. This year, International Women’s Day falls on March 8.
The holiday has been observed since the early 1900s, making it a century-old tradition that continues to grow each year. This year’s campaign theme is “Pledging for Parity,” due to the slowed progress of gender equality across the world. While women continue to make important contributions to society, the 2014 World Economic Forum predicted the gender gap to close in 2095 and now it is not predicted to close until 2133.
A day that urges people to take purposeful action to accelerate gender parity, IWD’s century-old celebration is recognized and adopted by hundreds of organizations, aligning with their missions and increasing in number each year.
While many countries are lagging behind, Iceland has been identified as a global leader in gender equality. A country that had approved equal inheritance for men and women by 1805, gave women the right to hold office by 1908 and has topped the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report for the last six years, Iceland continues to be proactive in their support of women by closing 87% of its gender gap to date.
In that same vein, Iceland celebrated 100 years of women’s rights this past October with a conference to open a conversation about the present state of women in the country and how to continuously improve it. This year in Reykjavik, London-based PoetryFilm is supporting IWD by highlighting women filmmakers on their website. International Women’s Day encourages everyone fighting for human rights to make a pledge or even start their own #PledgeForParity campaign.
How will you be celebrating International Women’s Day? Let us know in the comment section or tweet us @IcelandNatural!
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