Maya Angelou, an award-winning American poet and author, was once quoted for saying:

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” The media is full of heroes every day, but today is the day that the world celebrates our she-roes: it’s International Women’s Day!

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International Women’s Day is a global day to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.  The first IWD was launched by a woman named Clara Zetkin (German) in 1911. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday. However, the plight of women and the hardship they still face in many countries is highlighted by many organisations – see below.

Global issues facing women include:

Females in developing countries on average carry 20 litres of water per day over 6 km

Globally, women account for the majority of people aged over 60 and over 80

Pregnant women in Africa are 180 times more likely to die than in Western Europe

530,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth each year

Of 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70% are women

80% of the world’s 27 million refugees are women

Women own around only 1% of the world’s land

AIDS sees women’s average life expectancy reduced to 43 in Uganda and Zambia

Women are 2/3 of the 1 billion+ illiterate adults who have no access to basic education

Read Fakhria Ibrahimi’s account of the plight of women in Afghanisaton

Official  International Women’s Day site – see how you can help bring about change in the world.

Photograph by web/graphic designer Melanie Cook, used with permission. Thank you!