International Women’s day

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a worldwide annual celebration on March 8, to commemorate the cultural, political, and socio-economic achievements of women.
It is also the highlight of Women’s Rights movements, in bringing attention to issues such as gender based violence, gender equality and other pertinent rights which women are denied.
The United Nations announced the theme for International Women’s Day, 2021 (IWD 2021) as, “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”
The theme celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The theme is aligned with the theme of the ‘Commission on the Status of Women,’ which is “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”
International Women’s Day is commemorated in a variety of ways worldwide; it is a public holiday in several countries, and observed socially or locally in others. In some parts of the world, IWD still reflects its political origins, being marked by protests and calls for radical change; in other areas, particularly in the West, it is largely socio-cultural and centered on a celebration of womanhood.
“In honour of International Women’s Day, we extend warm greetings and good wishes to the women of Laudium and thank them for their contributions over the years, to the building of our nation.
In line with the theme this year, we honour and cherish all the women in our community who went out of their way to serve during the Covid-19 pandemic. Women who took the time and effort to ensure that not a single household was without food, women who stood strong in the face of gender based violence, women who endured and continued to excel despite all the odds stacked against them, women who are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives and colleagues. We salute you for all that you are and all that you do.”

by: Fatima Shakoor,
Pretoria Muslim Women United.

File photo taken at Freedom Park –
Back: Rashida Vahed, Rooki Soma, Hafsa Carim, Jyoti Joshi, Tara Bhaga, Harshula Rowjee, Haseena Azmuth and Vani Muthaya.
Centre: Theresa Mashabane.
Front: Maniben Sita,
Jasubhen Ghandi, Catherine Debruyn and Bhikiben Datun.