Why do a school assembly for this day?

International Women’s day has great relevance today.  Whilst recent decades have seen progress for many girls and women, in terms of access to education and proper health care, paid employment and equal opportunities legislation, they often have very different opportunities and life experiences, compared to boys and men.

Girls and young women lose out in the double forfeit they make in terms of earnings, the poverty they are likely to experience in old age, and through the lack of women in politics and as leaders in industry.

The social progress that has been made has been hard won, and young people need to be reminded not to be complacent about this, or the progress that still needs to be made, by their generation.  This assembly can become an annual event, highlighting different themes each year.

Why a day for women?

The United Nations General Assembly dedicates this day exclusively to the celebration of the world’s girls and women, to acknowledge that social progress and world peace require the active participation and equality of women, and to recognise the contribution of women to international peace and security.

For the women of the world, the day’s symbolism has a wider meaning – to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development.  The day has a wide significance for society – at the 1995 World Conference on Women, in Beijing, representatives of 189 countries agreed that inequalities between women and men has serious consequences for the well-being of all people.  In essence, until the full potential and rights of women are achieved, lasting solutions to the world’s most serious social, economic and political problems are unlikely to be found.

The concept of an International Women’s Day came about at the turn of the last century, which was a time of economic growth and social upheaval, with vast population growth and many competing political ideologies.  It makes for an exciting and enlightening trip through the history of the last 150 years.