Happy International Women’s day everyone!

It is a global day which celebrates the economic, social, cultural and political achievements of women. It is also a day which marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. For some it is a collective day for global celebration and for many others, it is an opportunity to align and promote relevant activity. Many organizations declare an annual theme that supports their specific agenda or cause. This day is an official holiday in many countries as well. Traditionally, men are often seen to give small gifts as a portrayal of love, affection and appreciation while some celebrates it like Mother’s Day.

To give you some background, this day has been observed since in the early 1900s. This is because during this period, it is a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. There is no government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network or media hub solely responsible for International Women’s Day.

This year, the theme is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. Even though the world has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in women, there has been ingrained complexity of patriarchy. Over in University of Surrey, there would be an event at 7pm at the Ivy Arts Centre with the theme “Creating Confidence”.

To be frank, I didn’t knew about this till I came over to the UK as this has not been actively celebrated in Singapore. This has been an eye-opener to me, to witness such activities being carried out so actively to help raise awareness and reduce gender inequality across the world. Thus, I am also doing my part by sharing about this as well! 🙂

Till next time, xx