International Women’s Day started off as a day to promote women’s issues within the socialist movement in early 20th Century in New York, but it garnered more support throughout the feminist movement in the 60s and was finally adopted by the UN in 1975.
Now, March 8 is recognized as International Women’s Day (IWD) and observance takes place in many countries around the world — response, however, varies from being declared a holiday to simply being ignored, Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) Vernon secretary Bev Weidman writes.
The day may also be observed with protests against ongoing gender imparity or celebrations of the achievements of notable women.
In Vernon, it’s the latter.
CFUW Vernon is prepared to host a panel of speaker at Okanagan College Vernon Campus on Monday, March 9, between 6-9 p.m. to mark International Women’s Day.
“International Women’s Day celebrates the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women around the world,” issues convenor Barbara Van Sickle said. “It also serves as a call to action to accelerate women’s parity of access to rights and opportunities with men within societies everywhere.”
The CFUW will be promoting gender equality in the workplace and in society in their evening panel presentation with the theme “An equal world is an enabled world.”
As inspiration and encouragement to women and men to promote gender equality, the panel members, including Michele Hill, Juliette Cunningham, Nakita Edwards, Audrey Pope and Alice Brown, will talk about their experiences in various workplaces and career paths which have led them to their current and past successes.
MCed and moderated by Elanda Kowalchuk, the event at Okanagan College’s LEcture Theatre D310 is sure to cover several interesting topics such as gender wage gap and women in powerful positions.
The event is free and open to all members of the public and Van Sickle encourages everyone, men, women and children to attend the evening’s event.
Weidman echoed the sentiment in her letter: “Singly, we can’t change the world. But together, we can do anything.”
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