Int’l Women's Day being observed today 

International Women's Day (IWD) is being observed on Tuesday (March 8) — to celebrate women’s social, economic, cultural and political achievements. 

This year, the theme of the day is "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow" in recognition and celebration of females who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation and response and to honour their leadership and contribution towards a sustainable future. 

Addressing an event on the eve of International Women's Day in Islamabad, President Dr Arif Alvi stressed the need of financial inclusion of women to ensure their economic empowerment in society.

Purple, green and white are the colours that represent International Women’s Day. 

Purple colour is associated with “justice and dignity”, while green represents “hope” and white stands for “purity”. 

The colours were assigned by the United Kingdom (UK) in 1908 by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). 

The day has been observed for nearly a century, with the first celebration taking place in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland in 1911. 

Globally, there is a lot of activity on this day as people join together to celebrate women’s accomplishments or to march for women’s rights.

History

Women’s persecution and inequality prompted them to become more vocal and involved in the movement for reform in 1908. Around the same time, 15,000 women marched through New York City, demanding shorter work hours, higher pay and the right to vote. 

In 1909, the first National Woman’s Day was celebrated across the United States, according to a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. 

Until 1913, women continued to commemorate national Woman’s Day on the last Sunday of February.  

In 1910, Copenhagen hosted the second International Conference of Working Women. 

Clara Zetkin—German Marxist theorist and activist—proposed the concept of International Women’s Day.

Clara recommended that every year on Women’s Day a celebration be held in every country to honour women’s fight for their demands.  

Following this over 100 women from 17 countries—representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s organisations and the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, unanimously approved Zetkin’s proposal. 

This is how International Women’s Day came to existence.