International Women’s Day March 8th is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of Women past, present and future, future as next near we celebrate the Global International Women’s Day Centenary 1911 – 2011. NRWP must endeavor to make a difference – we must take ourselves up and out to think globally and act locally by doing our bit to ensure that the future of rural women and girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding, let us join with our Network of NGOs whose theme “Equal rights, equal opportunity, Progress for all” “The theme speaks to the need to build awareness of women and girls rights, for equal opportunities, and shared family responsibilities, sustainable gender gaps continue in spite of the efforts of women, progress in areas such as wags equity, maternal and child mortality and gender based violence is needed” … says Network of NGO Coordinator Hazel Brown. The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women’ while many feminists from the 1970′s know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.
