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Why dedicate a day exclusively to the celebration of the world’s women?
The United Nations General Assembly, which is composed of delegates from all the member countries, mentioned two reasons: firstly, to recognize the fact that peace and social progress require the active participation and equality of women; secondly, to acknowledge the contribution of women to international peace and security.
For the women of the world, the Day's symbolism has a wider meaning: It is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development.
It has -- or it must have -- a wider significance for all of society. At the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, representatives of 189 different countries agreed that inequalities between women and men has serious consequences for the well-being of all people.
The final document issued by the conference (called the "Platform for Action") had this to say: "The advancement of women and the achievement of equality between women and men are a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice and should not be seen in isolation as a women's issue."
Until the rights and full potential of women are achieved, lasting solutions to the world's most serious social, economic and political problems are unlikely to be found. |
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