{"id":14266,"date":"2021-03-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/08-03-2021\/international-womens-day-8-march\/"},"modified":"2021-03-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:00:00","slug":"international-womens-day-8-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/08-03-2021\/international-womens-day-8-march","title":{"rendered":"International Women\u2019s Day: 8 March"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In News<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every year,<strong> 8th March<\/strong> is globally celebrated as <strong>International Women\u2019s Day <\/strong>(IWD), highlighting the struggles and achievements of women.<\/p>\n<p><strong>History<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1910:<\/strong> <strong>Clara Zetkin proposed <\/strong>to celebrate Women\u2019s Day in every country on <strong>28th February<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Zetkin was a<strong> Germany-born<\/strong> <strong>labour and women movements activist<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>1911: <\/strong>Women\u2019s Day was <strong>observed for the first time on 28th February<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>1913:<\/strong> The date was <strong>changed to 8th March<\/strong>, and it continues to be celebrated as such every year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>1975: <\/strong>During the <strong>International Women&#8217;s Year<\/strong>, the <strong>United Nations<\/strong> began <strong>celebrating 8th March as IWD<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>1977:<\/strong> The UN General Assembly <strong>adopted a resolution<\/strong> proclaiming a <strong>UN Day for Women&#8217;s Rights and International Peace<\/strong> to be <strong>observed on any day of the year by the Member States<\/strong>, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Major Milestones<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1995:<\/strong> The <strong>Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action<\/strong>, a historic roadmap, was signed which focuses on 12 critical areas of concern.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2015:<\/strong> The inclusion of <strong>Goal 5<\/strong> \u201cAchieve gender equality and empower all women and girls\u201d in the <strong>2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Key Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Theme for 2021: ChooseToChallenge<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It indicates that a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change.<\/li>\n<li>So, the day urges everyone to choose to challenge everything that has been holding them back and become better allies to women around them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Objectives<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Celebrate women&#8217;s achievements.<\/li>\n<li>Raise awareness about women&#8217;s equality.<\/li>\n<li>Lobby for accelerated gender parity.<\/li>\n<li>Fundraise for female-focused charities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/797022534276569900_image.png\" style=\"height:312px; margin-left:100px; margin-right:100px; width:379px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>(Image Courtesy: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.internationalwomensday.com\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>IWD<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Challenges Faced by Women<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Violence (domestic violence, threats of rape, harassment, etc.)<\/li>\n<li>Gender gap and the digital gender divide<\/li>\n<li>Informal work and instability<\/li>\n<li>Lack of better marriage prospects.<\/li>\n<li>Period poverty and stigma.<\/li>\n<li>Underrepresentation in politics and leadership roles.<\/li>\n<li>Patriarchal outlook.<\/li>\n<li>Stereotypical gender roles.<\/li>\n<li>Social pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The IWD sees a <strong>number of missions with different objectives<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Women in Technology Mission:<\/strong> To celebrate digital advancement and champion the women forging innovation through technology.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Women in Sports Mission:<\/strong> To celebrate women athletes and applaud when equality is achieved in pay, sponsorship and visibility.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Women&#8217;s Health Mission: <\/strong>To assist women to be in a position of power to make informed decisions about their health.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Women at Work Mission:<\/strong> To forge inclusive work cultures where women&#8217;s careers thrive and achievements are celebrated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Women Creatives Mission:<\/strong> To celebrate the work of women creatives and elevate visibility for commercial projects and commissions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Women&#8217;s Empowerment Mission:<\/strong> To shine a spotlight on activity encouraging and uplifting women to pursue goals without bias or barriers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Significance<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This day is celebrated<strong> to acknowledge the economic, political, social and cultural achievements of women<\/strong> from all walks of life.<\/li>\n<li>IWD <strong>marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to <strong>celebrate women&#8217;s achievements or rally for women&#8217;s equality<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The day is <strong>aligned with the priority theme of the 65th Session <\/strong>of the<strong> Commission on the Status of Women<\/strong>, &#8220;<strong>Women in public life, equal participation in decision making<\/strong>&#8220;.<\/li>\n<li>It also aligns with the flagship <strong>Generation Equality Campaign<\/strong>, which c<strong>alls for women\u2019s right to decision-making in all areas of life<\/strong>, equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to all forms of violence against women and girls, and health-care services that respond to their needs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:624px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"vertical-align:top; width:6.5in\">\n<p><strong>Related International Days<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>6 February:<\/strong> International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation<\/li>\n<li><strong>11 February:<\/strong> International Day of Women and Girls in Science<\/li>\n<li><strong>22 April:<\/strong> Girls in Information and Communications Technology Day<\/li>\n<li><strong>19 June: <\/strong>International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict<\/li>\n<li><strong>11 October:<\/strong> International Day of the Girl Child<\/li>\n<li><strong>15 October:<\/strong> International Day of Rural Women<\/li>\n<li><strong>25 November:<\/strong> International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women<\/li>\n<li><strong>1975:<\/strong> International Women&#8217;s Year<\/li>\n<li><strong>1976\u20131985:<\/strong> UN Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Major Steps by India<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The principle of <strong>gender equality<\/strong> is enshrined in the<strong> Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles of State Policy<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>The Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ratification of Global Initiatives: <\/strong>India has ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights of women.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women<\/strong> (CEDAW) in 1993.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mexico Plan of Action<\/strong>, 1975.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies<\/strong>, 1985.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Beijing Declaration as well as the Platform for Action<\/strong>, 1995.<\/li>\n<li>Outcome Document adopted by the <strong>UNGA Session on Gender Equality and Development and Peace<\/strong> for the 21st century, titled &#8220;Further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>National Commission for Women:<\/strong> It was set up by an <strong>Act of Parliament in 1990 <\/strong>to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women.<\/li>\n<li><strong>73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, 1993: <\/strong>Provided for <strong>reservation of seats for women in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities<\/strong> respectively, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels.<\/li>\n<li><strong>National Policy For The Empowerment of Women, 2001<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It aims to bring about the advancement, development and empowerment of women and the policy is widely disseminated so as to encourage active participation of all stakeholders for achieving the goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mahila E-haat<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is a <strong>direct online marketing platform<\/strong> launched by the <strong>Ministry of Women and Child Development<\/strong> to support women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to showcase products made and services rendered by them.<\/li>\n<li>This is a part of the &#8216;<strong>Digital India<\/strong>&#8216; <strong>initiative<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was launched in <strong>January 2015<\/strong>, with an aim to <strong>generate awareness<\/strong> and also <strong>improve the efficiency of welfare services<\/strong> for the girl child.<\/li>\n<li>The initial aim of the campaign was to <strong>address the declining Child Sex Ratio <\/strong>(CSR) but now includes gender-biased sex-selective eliminations and propagating education, survival, and protection of the girl child.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Falling<strong> under the ambit of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme<\/strong>, it is a <strong>government-backed savings scheme for girl children<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The<strong> account can be opened at any India Post office or a branch of an authorised commercial bank<\/strong> anytime between the birth of the girl child and till the age of 10 by a parent or guardian.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mahila Shakti Kendra<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>These were <strong>launched in 2017<\/strong> to <strong>empower rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>These work through <strong>community engagement<\/strong> and provide an <strong>interface for rural women to approach the government<\/strong> to avail of their entitlements through training and capacity building.<\/li>\n<li>These work at the <strong>National, State, District, and Block levels<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Working Women Hostel<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The objective of the scheme is to <strong>promote the availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>These have<strong> daycare facilities for their children<\/strong> and are <strong>located wherever <\/strong>possible, in urban, semi-urban, or even rural areas where <strong>employment opportunities for women exist<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was set up<strong> to provide skills to women so that they can take up gainful employment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It <strong>also provides the right competencies and training<\/strong> for women to become <strong>entrepreneurs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Open to <strong>every woman above the age of 16<\/strong>, it is <strong>run through a grant<\/strong> given to an institution\/organisation including NGOs directly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>One-Stop Centre Scheme<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was <strong>implemented in April 2015<\/strong> with the &#8216;<strong>Nirbhaya<\/strong>&#8216; <strong>fund<\/strong> and is popularly known as &#8216;<strong>Sakhi<\/strong>\u2019.<\/li>\n<li>Established at various locations in India for <strong>providing shelter, police desk, legal, medical and counselling services<\/strong> to <strong>victims of violence<\/strong> under one roof integrated with a <strong>24-hour toll-free helpline<\/strong> (181).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Swadhar Greh<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was launched by the <strong>Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2002<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It <strong>aims for the rehabilitation of women in difficult circumstances<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Beneficiaries: <\/strong>Widows deserted by their families and relatives, women prisoners released from jail and without family support, women survivors of natural disasters, women victims of terrorist\/extremist violence, etc.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>implementing agencies<\/strong> are mainly <strong>NGOs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current-affairs\/12-02-2021\"><strong>Various Schemes to Encourage Women in Science<\/strong><\/a>\n<ul>\n<li>Science and Engineering Research Board-Promoting Opportunities for Women in Exploratory Research (SERB-POWER) Programme.<\/li>\n<li>New Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020.<\/li>\n<li>Biotechnology Career Advancement and Re-orientation Programme (BioCARe).<\/li>\n<li>Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI).<\/li>\n<li>Department of Science and Technology (DST) schemes like\n<ul>\n<li>Women Scientists Scheme (WOS).<\/li>\n<li>Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (WISTEMM).<\/li>\n<li>Consolidation of University Research for Innovation and Excellence in Women Universities (CURIE).<\/li>\n<li>Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN).<\/li>\n<li>Vigyan Jyoti Programme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nari Shakti Puruskars<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>These are <strong>national-level awards recognizing the efforts made by women<\/strong> and institutions in rendering distinguished services for the cause of women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.<\/li>\n<li>The awards are<strong> presented by the President of India every year on 8th March.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/lifestyle\/life-style\/international-womens-day-2021-date-history-and-importance-of-the-day-7210013\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Source: IE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News Every year, 8th March is globally celebrated as International Women\u2019s Day (IWD), highlighting the struggles and achievements of women. History 1910: Clara Zetkin proposed to celebrate Women\u2019s Day in every country on 28th February. Zetkin was a Germany-born labour and women movements activist. 1911: Women\u2019s Day was observed for the first time on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-14266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-gs-2"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/7127510current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}