March 8th is recognized around the world as International Women's Day. IWD is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The holiday actually has roots in the labor movements that developed across Europe and North America at the turn of the twentieth century.

The earliest traces of national celebration and activism go back to textile workers marching in NYC in 1907 and the first “Woman’s Day” in the US was held on February 28th 1909. On March 19th, 1911, the first International celebration was supported by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

The UN Charter outlines among its purpose to promote and encourage "fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion."

When the charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945, it became the first international agreement to affirm a principle of equality between women and men. The UN is also responsible for officially introducing IWD as a global holiday years later in 1975. That year, the UN began celebrating International Women's Day on March 8th. Here in the US, we celebrate women all month long (Congress designated March as Women’s History Month in 1987), with IWD celebrations falling on the 8th. Over 100 other countries also have official holidays honoring women on the 8th.

IWD doesn’t belong to one country, one group or even one organization.

IWD belongs to all groups collectively, everywhere. Not only a celebration of global female achievers and achievements in history, today also marks a global call to action for accelerating gender parity.

Find out how you can get involved below