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International Women’s Day: Looking Back
By Vlad KUZMENKO
International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around theworld. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements withoutregard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic orpolitical. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles andaccomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untappedpotential and opportunities that await future generations of women.In 1975, during International Women's Year, the United Nations begancelebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March. Two years later, inDecember 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming aUnited Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to beobserved on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with theirhistorical and national traditions. In adopting its resolution, the GeneralAssembly recognized the role of women in peace efforts and developmentand urged an end to discrimination and an increase of support for women’sfull and equal participation.
History
International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labourmovements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and acrossEurope.
 
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1909: The first NationalWoman's Day was observed inthe United States on 28February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day inhonour of the 1908 garmentworkers’ strike in New York,where women protested againstworking conditions.
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1910: The SocialistInternational, meeting inCopenhagen, established aWomen's Day, international incharacter, to honour themovement for women's rightsand to build support forachieving universal suffrage forwomen. The proposal wasgreeted with unanimousapproval 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 forthe observance.
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1911: As a result of the Copenhagen initiative, International Women'sDay was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark,Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women andmen attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold publicoffice, they demanded women’s rights to work, to vocational trainingand to an end to discrimination on the job.
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1913-1914: International Women's Day also became a mechanism forprotesting World War I. As part of the peace movement, Russian womenobserved their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday inFebruary. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the followingyear, women held rallies either to protest the war or to expresssolidarity with other activists.
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1917: Against the backdrop of the war, women in Russia again chose toprotest and strike for ‘Bread and Peace’ on the last Sunday in February(which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, theCzar abdicated and the provisional Government granted women theright to vote.Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a newglobal dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. Thegrowing international women's movement, which has been strengthened byfour global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make thecommemoration a rallying point to build support for women's rights andparticipation in the political and economic arenas. Increasingly, InternationalWomen's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and tocelebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who haveplayed an extraordinary role in the history of their countries andcommunities.
The United Nations and Gender Equality
 The Charter of the United Nations,signed in 1945, was the firstinternational agreement to affirmthe principle of equality betweenwomen and men. Since then, the UNhas helped create a historic legacy of internationally-agreed strategies,standards, programmes andgoals to advance the status of womenworldwide.Over theyears, the UN andits technical
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