An introduction to International Women's Day

2007年国际妇女节的主题"Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls."

International Women's Day (IWD) occurs on 8 March annually and is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. The first IWD was held on 19 March 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and other European countries. German women chose this day because on this date in 1848 the Prussian king, faced with an armed uprising, had promised many reforms, including an unfulfilled one of votes for women.

In 1975, during International Women's Year, the United Nations began celebrating 8 March as International Women's Day. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. For the United Nations, International Women's Day has been observed on 8 March since 1975. The Day is traditionally marked with a message from the Secretary-General.

IWD today is an opportunity for women to come together and look back on a rich history of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development and to support this work in the present and future.

   A brief chronology of the most important events:

1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.

1910
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911
As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.

1913-1914
As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

1917
With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

1975
During International Women's Year, the United Nations began celebrating 8 March as International Women's Day.

1977
In December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.

   Themes for International Women's Day

IWD 2006: "Women in decision-making"

IWD 2005: "Gender Equality Beyond 2005: Building a More Secure Future"

IWD 2004: "Women and HIV/AIDS"

IWD 2003: "Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goal"

IWD 2002: "Afghan Women Today: Realities and Opportunity"

IWD 2001: "Women and Peace: Women Managing Conflits"

IWD 2000: "Women Uniting for Peace"

IWD 1999: "World Free of Violence Against Women"

IWD 1998: "Women and Human Rights"

IWD 1997: "Women at the Peace Table"

IWD 1996: "Celebrating the Past, Planning for the future"

   Related Links: message on IWD by Secretary-General Kofi Annan (1997-2004 )

http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2006/message.html

http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2004/sg.html

http://www.un.org/events/women/iwd/2003/sgmessage.html

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/sgsm8141.doc.htm

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/sgsm7726.doc.htm

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2000/20000306.sgsm7325.doc.html

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1999/19990305.sgsm6914.html

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1998/19980303.SGSM6476.R1.html

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd/1997/