As you may have been aware of, March 8th 2015 was International Women’s Day! What a great day to celebrate being a woman! The theme for this year was #MakeItHappen, which encourages and promotes effective action for recognizing and advancing women. This worldwide holiday was first held in 1911, and since then, thousands of events from every corner of the globe have risen to mark the social and political achievements of women on this fine day.
Check out some of the amazing events celebrating IWD that happened worldwide this year!
5th Annual WOW- Women of the World Festival
Happening in London, this festival took place a whole eight days! It consisted of various talks, performances, and workshops celebrating girls and women. WOW is now considered to be a global phenomenon and its debates and films can still be viewed at wow.southbankcentre.co.uk.
#MakeItHappen Women’s Walks in Accra, Ghana
Ghana, a nation in which the roles of women in society has fluctuated throughout the centuries, hosted a peaceful walk in which the achievements of women were celebrated while they called for gender equality. The International Women’s Day hashtag, #MakeItHappen brought this event and the world together to symbolically participate, even if they could not physically be there. Read more at evenstreetafrica.com.
WeCon Women’s Empowerment Conference
Coming back home to the US, Austin, Texas hosted this conference on March 7th and 8th. This two-day conference not only had workshops for adults and teens, but job trainings and a resource fair. Education is key to showing the world what we are truly capable of, as women.
The Empowerment Bridge: Building a Lifetime Opportunity for Women and Girls
This two day annual forum took place right in the heart of New York. This forum focuses on the empowerment of girls and women to bridge those gender gaps and becoming independent. Famous former speakers include: Chelsea Clinton, U.N. Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and Sakena Yacoobi, Executive Director of the Afghan Institute for Learning.
We can’t wait to see what the rest of this year has in store for us! The only way to achieving this equality is making a vow to #MakeItHappen whenever and wherever you can! Know that any single woman has the power to bring us one step closer to achieving gender equality! 