Today, the 8th of March, we join millions of women across the globe to celebrate International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day is a special annual celebration that honors the social, economic, political and cultural achievements of women all over the world.

The day doubles as a day to celebrate and increase support for women while also drawing attention to pressing issues such as discrimination, gender inequality, harassment, reproductive rights etc. that continue to affect women globally.

According to The United Nations, the theme for IWD 2023 is;

"DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality".

The theme aims to applaud and shine the spotlight on women for their immense contribution to technology and online education and bring attention to the impact of digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities.

In the spirit of celebrating International Women's Day, we would be highlighting interesting and notable facts about this special day.

Here are a few things you didn’t know about International Women’s Day;

1. The first International Women’s Day was held on the 19th of March, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

2. The United Nations recognized and started celebrating International Women’s Day on the 8th of March in 1975

3. Each year, the United Nations announces a theme in honor of the IWD celebration. The theme of IWD2022 was “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”

4. In a few countries like Albania, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Macedonia etc, International Women’s Day is combined with Mother’s Day celebrations.

5. The colors of International Women’s Day festivities are purple which symbolizes justice and dignity; Green which symbolizes hope and white which represents purity.

6. IWD celebration remains a public holiday in countries such as Cambodia, Russia, Vietnam, Ukraine etc.

7. In China, women are granted half a day off work by employers as a way of honoring the day.

There is no doubt that International Women’s Day has continued to be a force of change for women across the globe as it speaks against the discrimination and inequality faced by women and girls around the world.

And on that note, we say Happy International Women’s Day!