March 8, 2011 will mark the 100th anniversary of International
Women’s Day (IWD), a global day of recognition. Thousands of
events are held around the world to celebrate women’s
achievements, discuss issues and inspire women. This year’s
theme for IWD is “Equal access to education, training and
science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.” In
1910, Clara Zetkin, leader of the “Women’s Office” for the
Social Democratic Party in Germany, proposed the idea of an
International Women’s Day at the 2nd International Conference of
Working Women. The conference attendees, more than 100 women
from 17 countries, unanimously approved the suggestion. The very
first IWD was launched the following year on March 19th in
Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. More than one million
women and men attended rallies supporting women’s rights. In
1913, IWD was moved to March 8th, which has remained the global
date ever since. In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the
United Nations began celebrating March 8th