International Women's Day in Canada, March 8, 2009

Posted by Susanna McLeod Mar 7, 2009

A woman's day, a day to press the issues was needed, announced Clara Zetkin in 1910 at the International Conference of Working Women held in Denmark. Clara was the German representative speaking to 100 women from around the world, encouraging women's right to vote, maternity benefits, better working conditions, and equality. Her suggestion of a special day was given a unanimous vote, and the first International Women's Day was held on March 19, 1911.

This year's Canadian theme is Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World: Equality. Income inequality, violence against women, and childcare issues are a few of the sticklers still unsettled in Canada. But women have made many gains, too, with a narrowing of the wage disparity in many sectors and in political representation: in the recent election, more women were elected than any other time in Canadian political history. Women comprise over 50 percent of university students in most programs. While life is not equal in our society, it is much closer than in some countries:

• There are 1.5 billion people living in dire poverty on $2 or less a day; seventy percent are women.
• Women are two-thirds of the one billion people unable to read in the world.
• Women are 80% of the world's 27 million refugees.
• In developing countries, it is the women who must carry the water up to 6 kilometers from source.
• In Afghanistan, women were stripped of their human rights when the Taliban seized control in 1996. Even with outside support, they are far from regaining those rights.

On this International Women's Day, let's celebrate the great achievements by women, and give support to those struggling for a better life. Placing women as equals makes a better world for all people.