International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike.
The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women's rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.
Officially recognized by the United Nations in , International Women's Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe:. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the garment workers' strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions. But the first milestone in US was much earlier - in Together they demand civil, social, political and religious rights for women in a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.
A movement is born. The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to build support for achieving universal suffrage for women. A day for women is celebrated in a number of European countries and in the United States. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded women's rights to work, to vocational training and an end to discrimination on the job.
As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.
