What is International Women’s Day?
IWD is an annual event to celebrate the achievements of women and push for rights progress. It has roots in the U.S. socialist and labour movements of the early 20th century, particularly as women were fighting for better working conditions and the right to vote.
The first recorded celebration was in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland when over a million people rallied to support women’s rights.
Since then, the event has grown not only in size but also in its scope. Focus has expanded to issues ranging from violence against women to parity in the workplace.
While no single group has ownership of the event, the United Nations is often at the forefront of celebrations after it officially recognised IWD in 1977. However, celebrations around the world are usually decentralized, though some countries recognise IWD as a public holiday, including China, Russia and Uganda.
People around the world are encouraged to acknowledge the day by making a move, big or small to address inequalities in their own communities and workplaces.
What is this year’s International Women’s Day theme?
The International Women’s Day website, backed by key organisations and businesses, including World Association of Girl Guides & Girl Scouts and ITN Business, has chosen the theme of ‘Accelerate Action’ for IWD2025. The theme askes people to step forward in solidarity for gender equality. At the current rate of progress, it will take until 2158, which is roughly five generations from now, to reach full gender parity, according to data from the World Economic Forum.
The U.N.’s theme this year is ‘For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.’ It calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation – youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls – as catalysts for lasting change.
The U.N. notes that 2025 is a pivotal moment as it marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. “This document is the most progressive and widely endorsed blueprint for women’s and girls’ rights worldwide that transformed the women’s rights agenda in terms of legal protection, access to services, youth engagement, and change in social norms, stereotypes and ideas stuck in the past,” says the U.N.
Why is International Women’s Day important?
Celebrations around the world are focused on longstanding issues ranging from financial inequality to poverty and violence.
A World Health Organization report in 2021 found that nearly one in three women worldwide is subjected to physical or sexual violence during her lifetime, an issue that ties in with women’s economic opportunities, access to sex education and reproductive rights.
In recent years, there has also been a push to make IWD more inclusive of racialised women as well as of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people, since the early movement was largely focused on cisgender white women fighting for voting rights.
While IWD is a chance to raise awareness on rights gaps, organisers also use the day to celebrate progress and the achievements of individual women.
