International Women's Day, 8 March 2021

On the occasion of International Women's Day, 8 March, the UN Women and UNESCO are presenting a series of virtual events. The theme for this year is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”

In 1945, the Charter of the United Nations became the first international agreement to affirm the principle of equality between women and men. The UN celebrated its first official International Women's Day on 8 March during International Women’s Year in 1975.

While International Women’s Day first emerged, at the turn of the twentieth century, from the activities of labour movements across North America and Europe. It is now an occasion to celebrate the progress made towards achieving gender equality and women's empowerment but also to critically reflect on those accomplishments and strive for a greater momentum towards gender equality worldwide.

On 8 March, UNESCO prepared a variety of activities to celebrate International Women’s Day, including four webinars addressing gender inequality in the field of higher education, AI, and natural science, the campaign on the online violence against women journalists, and #WeAreYennenga Challenge to promote gender equality in the cultural sector. Finally, UNESCO will present its new initiative to empower women and support biodiversity.

From 15 to 26 March 2021 UN Women will hold the sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The session’s priority theme is: Women's full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls; while the review theme is: Women's empowerment and the link to sustainable development.

For more information please consult the links below.