International Women’s Day 2012 Events & Themes

As with every year, International Women’s Day 2012 (IWD) falls on March 8, 2012 for this year, and is celebrated on March 8 for every year. Each year, organizations, governments and woman’s groups from around the world choose different themes that reflect current global and local gender issues. This may get many people confused, as most people think that there is but one global theme for each year, but that is not always the case. It is entirely up to each nation and individual group to choose an appropriate theme for their demography. For the United Nations theme for 2012, they have selected the following as their theme: Empower Rural Women – End Hunger and Poverty. There also are other themes in place for 2012, and here is a short list of some of them from what we could find at the time of this writing:

International Women’s Day 2012 Themes

• United Nations: Empower Rural Women – End Hunger and Poverty
• Canada: Status of Women (Federal Gov.): Strong Leadership. Strong Women. Strong World: Equality.
• Australia: UNIFEM: Unite to End Violence Against Women
• Australia: Queensland Government Office for Women: Our Women, Our State
• Australia: WA Department for Communities: Sharing the Caring for the Future
• European Parliament: Equal Pay for work of equal value
• UK: Doncaster Council: Women’s Voices and Influence
• UK: Welsh Assembly Government: Bridging the Generational Gap
• UK: Accenture: Stretch Yourself: Achieving 50:50 in the boardroom by 2020
• USA: IBM: Women@IBM: Success in the Globally Integrated Enterprise
• InternationalWomensDay.Com: Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures

International Women’s Day 2012 Events

This year there are approximately 1308 events taking place around the world. The United Kingdom leads the pack with 356 events planned so far for this event, with the United States ranking number 2 with 211 planned events, followed by the Canada with 167 events planned, Belize following closely with 135 and not to be forgotten, our friends down-under in Australia following closely with 123 events and India with an impressive 45 events planned as of this writing. To search for worldwide events visit the Search International Women’s Day Events by Country web page.

International Women’s Day History

The first IWD events were run in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland in 1911 and attended by over one million people. 100 years on, IWD has become a global mainstream phenomena celebrated across many countries and is an official holiday in approximately 25 countries including Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia.

March 8 sees extensive global women’s activity. Performer and social activist, Annie Lennox, will lead a mass march across London’s Millennium Bridge for charity. In Washington D.C. over a thousand people will venture on Capitol Hill demanding a better world for millions of marginalized women and girls around the globe. A major international businesswomen’s conference will be hosted in Sydney, Australia. Schools and governments around the world are participating in the day. Trade Unions and charities are campaigning. Global corporations are hosting conferences and distributing extensive resource packs. The United Nations Secretary-General delivers a formal message. The United States even designates the whole month of March as Women’s History Month as officially proclaimed by President Obama on February 28, 2011.

IWD is a global celebration of the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future. However, activity has not always been on the increase. Australian entrepreneur and women’s campaigner Glenda Stone, who founded the International Women’s Day website, a global hub of events and information, said:

“A decade ago IWD was disappearing. Activity in Europe, where IWD actually began, was very low. Providing a global online platform helped sustain and accelerate momentum for this important day. Holding only a handful of events ten years ago, the United Kingdom has now become the global leader for IWD activity, followed sharply by Canada, United States and Australia. 2011 will see thousands of events globally for the first time.”

More recently, social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube have also helped fuel IWD activity. Generally the day has moved away from its socialist Suffragette beginnings to become more mainstream in celebrating women’s achievements. Women’s rights campaigners, however, continue to remind that vigilance rather than complacency is essential in striving for women’s equality.

Here is a handy link to the IWD Fact Sheet

International Women’s Day 2012

Update: Another major event is scheduled, which will be On March 8th, 2012, the Women’s Information Network (WIN) will present fabulous LIVE celebrations in 10 cities across America which will be simultaneously live-streamed to women in 176 countries! Click here for list of participating countries

March 8, 2012
This is Our Time

It will be a fabulous global celebration of women past, present, and future ~ the largest gathering of women for International Women’s Day 2012 in the history of the world!

On March 8th, 2012, the Women’s Information Network (WIN) will present fabulous LIVE celebrations in 176 counties!

Women worldwide will connect to celebrate and honor women past, present, and future, in many exciting ways. Amazing women celebrities, athletes, political leaders, and experts will speak about women’s issues today. There will be live musical entertainment and much more!

On this day women will “Celebrate, Commit, and Connect.” They’ll celebrate like never before ~ connect as only women do ~ and commit to improve in 3 areas of their lives:

Personal ~ improve their personal health and well being, and their businesses as employees, business owners, entrepreneurs.
Family ~ help their families be healthier and prepare for the future right now.
Country ~ let their voices be heard: to speak up, to make positive changes in their communities/countries.

We invite and welcome you to participate!! CLICK HERE to see the many ways you can be involved in this fabulous, monumental, historic event for the women of the world.

Women worldwide will connect to celebrate and honor women in many exciting ways. On huge screens they will watch celebrations (and see one another!) in New York, Washington DC/Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Denver, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Amazing women celebrities, athletes, political leaders, and experts will speak about women’s issues today and how, exactly, we can “Enlighten Women’s Hearts and Empower Women’s Minds … for a Better World.” There will be live musical entertainment, a powerful dramatic presentation called “We Did It For You” and much, much more!

Global Women’s Summits are part of our wonderful women’s movement designed to educate, enlighten, and support women in every nation, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with the women of the world.

In 2011, the Women’s Information Network (The WIN) hosted Global Women’s Summits in 8 countries. They were so successful that in 2012, 200 groups of women will present Global Women’s Summits in 5 cities each… that’s 1,000 cities worldwide!

At Global Women’s Summits local leaders address personal, family, business and community/national issues that are important to women in each country. Additionally, 3 critical initiatives are discussed by all participants:

“In what ways are we similar to our sisters locally and internationally? How do we acknowledge similarities between women/communities/nations, and also respect differences?”
“How do you want women’s roles to be strengthened for increased peace and development in this community/nation/the world?”
“How can we (the women of the world) live in dignity and contribute to the well-being of women and families worldwide?”

The answers to these questions are then compiled and we will be presenting them to world leaders in order to bring to light the true issues that women all over the world are concerned about today.

On this day women from around the world will “Celebrate, Commit, and Connect.” They’ll celebrate like never before, and connect we will, as only we women can do, and commit to improve in 3 areas of their lives:

* Personal ~ improve their personal health and well being, and their businesses as employees, business owners, entrepreneurs.
* Family ~ help their families be healthier and prepare for the future right now.
* Country ~ let their voices be heard: to speak up, to make positive changes in their communities/countries.

For a list of events you can participate in click the following link: International Women’s Day 2012 Take Action

There is another possibility if you can’t participate in an event, you can go to carepackage.org and donate money for education, health care, and other help for women overseas.

So get out there and lets send a message on International Women’s Day 2012 that will be heard around the world! Peace my friends!