Women's Day History and Significance

International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 every year and the main purpose of celebrating Women's Day is to recognise the various contributions of women in society and raise awareness about gender equality.

The theme of International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias. It is all known knowledge that women find it difficult to move ahead in life due to biased attitudes against them. The United Nations has stated that it would celebrate the day with the theme "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow".

Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) has come up with the concept of specific colours for this day and it started in 1908 in the United Kingdom. The colours for International Women's Day are purple, green and white. According to the official website, the colour purple signifies dignity and justice. Green symbolises hope, while the colour white represents purity.

International Women's Day was celebrated by the United Nations for the first time in 1975. Later in December 1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace. Now, several countries are celebrating International Women's Day.

IWD is also an official holiday in countries including Armenia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam among others.