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International Women's Day is Embracing Equity and we are so here for it

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Hashtag and universal symbol for women in shades of pink and purple

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. 

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.

Embracing Equity

This year's theme for International Women's Day is #EmbraceEquity. Equity is a fundamental concept when it comes to disability rights and also womens rights. 

Sometimes, people might use the words equity and equality interchanageably but they mean very different things.

Treating people with equality, means treating them all the same. So if you give something to or make an allowance for someone, to treat everyone with equality, everyone else should have that same thing or allowance made avaialble to them. 

Equity, on the other hand, acknowledges that everyone doesn't start at the same place or have the same priveleges or access needs, and that some people's needs are different than others. Treating people with equity means working out what changes, adaptions or inclusions can be made to enable fair and equitible access for everyone. This might mean giving more to some than others, or not even giving to some people at all in order to "balance the scales" and make society fair, inclusive and accessible for all. 

"Equality is giving everyone a shoe. Equity is giving everyone a shoe that fits." - Susan K Gardener

DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality

The theme for the UN International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023 (IWD 2023) is, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. This theme is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67), “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.

The United Nations Observance of IWD recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. IWD 2023 will explore the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. The event will also spotlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces and addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence.

For more information visit unwomen.org

Available Resources

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