One of the astonishments I got when I first moved from Uganda to the west, was that March 8 went uncelebrated. Growing up, it was a big day, everyone took the day off. It was a leave day, a bank holiday, children didn't go to school, we even got quizzed on it in our social studies. And, we all knew it was the day we celebrated International Women's day.
Why was it a big deal? As you can tell from the name, women and girls were honored. We were taught about the struggle of many women dating as far back as the 1st World war who had fought for a gender-equal world. Eventually in 1975, the United Nations acknowledged March 8 as a day to credit the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The colors purple for justice and dignity, green for hope, and white for purity were the colors chosen to honor this day.
There have
been several themes over the year to celebrate the progress of women and this
year's theme is, "Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow” with
the hashtag #BreakTheBias being used for conversations on
Social Media.
While reminiscing
about how we paused to celebrate International Women’s Day, I am surprised that
it is just a public holiday in a few countries. These are Afghanistan, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau,
Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal,
Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and
Zambia. China and Madagascar have just the women celebrate the day.
Back in the day, we
celebrated with different events that included conferences, festivals, parades,
and exhibitions. Much as it is not a holiday out here, there are many
different activities and events that
one can take part in to commend women.
Living here now, I’m
humbled that women’s rights are human rights which is not the case in many
countries. I am grateful for the so many men and women who went before us to
fight for gender equality. It is thus no wonder that the whole of March in
America is Women’s History month and below are various resources you can use to
champion women.
https://www.womenshistorymonth.gov/
https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/events/2022/02/international-womens-day-2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuoCQ2O09oI
