Observed annually on March 8, it honors the accomplishments of women worldwide and advocates for gender equality. With roots in the early 20th-century women’s rights movements, IWD has evolved into a global celebration.
Origins and History
In 1922, Vladimir Lenin declared March 8 as International Women’s Day to recognize the pivotal role women played in the 1917 Russian Revolution. The holiday gained traction within the socialist movement and communist countries. The United Nations’ promotion of IWD in 1977 catapulted it to mainstream global recognition.
Global Significance
International Women’s Day is a public holiday in several countries, with the United Nations observing the day in conjunction with a specific issue, campaign, or theme related to women’s rights. This global celebration serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing quest for gender equality and the importance of recognizing women’s contributions to society.
Accelerating Action: A Call to Achieve Gender Equaliy
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025, the theme “Accelerate Action” resonates deeply. It emphasizes the need for swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality, urging individuals, organizations, and governments to take concrete actions to address the systemic barriers and biases that women face.
Despite progress made, significant barriers to gender equality remain. Women continue to face discrimination, violence, and marginalization in various aspects of life, including education, employment, healthcare, and politics. To overcome these challenges, it is essential to accelerate action, leveraging strategies, resources, and activities that have proven effective in advancing women’s empowerment.
Understanding What Works
One of the most effective ways to forge gender equality is to understand what works and to do more of it, faster. This involves identifying and scaling up successful initiatives, policies, and programs that have positively impacted women’s lives. By learning from these experiences and building on existing momentum, we can accelerate progress toward gender equality.
Supporting the Supporters
A crucial aspect of accelerating action is to support the organizations, groups, and individuals working tirelessly to advance women’s empowerment. These entities, ranging from grassroots charities to large-scale organizations, require resources, funding, and visibility to continue their critical work. By supporting these groups, we can amplify their impact and help create a more equitable world.
IWD GIVING: A Call to Action
In recognition of the importance of supporting women-focused organizations, IWD 2025 introduces the concept of IWD GIVING. This initiative encourages individuals, organizations, and governments to donate to charities, NGOs, and community groups working to advance women’s empowerment. By making March 8 one of the biggest giving days of the year, we can collectively accelerate action and create a more just and equitable world.
Individual Actions
While supporting organizations is crucial, individual actions can also make a significant difference. We can all take steps in our daily lives to positively impact women’s advancement, such as:
– Calling out stereotypes and challenging discrimination
– Celebrating women’s successes and achievements
– Sharing knowledge and encouragement with others
– Supporting women-focused organizations and initiatives
– support victims of violence and shame perpetrators
– unite to push the boundaries
Corporate Actions
Promote Economic Empowerment
– Enforce pay equity and transparency
– Provide paid maternity and paternity leave
– Improve women’s access to financial services (loans, investments, business development support)
– Recognize, redistribute, and reduce unpaid care work
– Anonymous Reporting Mechanisms: Allowing individuals to report incidents without fear of retaliation
– employees should be educated and trained on the importance of respecting boundaries and consent.
– Victims of sexual harassment should be provided with access to support, counseling, and justice.
– Protection of whistleblowers: Safeguarding individuals who come forward with allegations from intimidation or retaliation
Government Actions
– Strengthen laws promoting gender equality (equal pay, reproductive rights, protection against gender-based violence)
– Implement existing laws fully
– Develop inclusive policies in education, healthcare, and the workforce
– Ensure and deliberately increase women’s representation in decision-making processes
– Increase women’s participation in politics and leadership roles
– Promote gender diversity in corporate leadership
– Support women’s leadership at the community level and within grassroots organizations
– Use Technology for Inclusion
– Ensure women have equal access to technology and the internet
– Leverage technology to promote women’s empowerment
– provide protection and welfare for victims and their families
– provide trained gender defender at the Police stations
– provide a one stop centre for victims of violence
-. Provide adequate shelter for victims
– invest in data and statistics gatjrrrf
– Eliminate gender bias in education
– Provide equal access to quality education for girls and women (especially in STEM)
– Support lifelong learning opportunities and skills development
– Support survivors of gender-based violence
– Hold institutions accountable for preventing sexual harassment and discrimination
Global Collaboration
Forge Global Collaboration and Advocacy
– Strengthen international and regional coalitions promoting women’s rights
– Increase financial support for women-led organizations working at the grassroots level
To accelerate action, it is essential to amplify the message of gender equality. We can do this by sharing our experiences, successes, and challenges on social media, using hashtags such as #IWD2025 #AccelerateAction. By striking the #AccelerateAction pose and sharing our solidarity, we can create a wave of momentum that inspires others to join the movement.
Conclusion
As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, we are reminded that achieving gender equality requires collective action, urgency, and momentum. By accelerating action, supporting the supporters, and amplifying the message, we can create a more just and equitable world for all. Join us in this campaign to accelerate action and make a difference in the lives of women and girls everywhere.
About African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA)
AWLA is a African organization that aims to promote women’s empowerment, gender equality, and social justice. With a presence in several African countries and African diaspora countries, AWLA works to amplify the voices of women and girls, advocating for their rights and interests. Join us in our mission to accelerate action and achieve gender equality. Visit our website at https://awla.international or www.awlanigeria.org to learn more.
Mandy Asagba
President
African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA)
6/3/2025
