Now & Then﹕International Women's Day
文章日期:2011年1月6日

【明報專訊】On 2 July 2010 the 64th United Nations General Assembly endorsed the establishment of UN Women, a new organisation to enhance gender equality. It was a merger between four existing UN bodies, including the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The new body, which is to go into operation officially in January 2011, aims at increasing the resources devoted to the empowerment of women in the world.

The UN Economic and Social Council has elected UN Women's operating committee. Under UN Women's constitution, the committee has 41 seats distributed among the regions - ten for Africa, ten for Asia, four for Eastern Europe, six for Latin America and the Caribbean and five for Western Europe. The remaining six should go to countries that regularly donate money.

Together with 40 other countries, China was elected to the committee. The six donors countries include the US, the UK and Saudi Arabia.

Fighting for gender equality

The world has seen many feminist movements for gender equality and women's rights. Some of them have significantly helped improve women's status.

Feminist movements in France

Feminist movements began in Europe among middle-class women inspired by thinkers of the Enlightenment (in the late 18th Century). After the French Revolution (法國大革命) (1789), women in Paris gathered in a protest at the Versailles Palace (凡爾賽宮). They urged the parliament to recognise equality between men and women. It was the pioneer of feminist movements in the world.

International Women's Day

The idea of having a day of global celebration of women originated in the early 20th century. When Western countries rapidly developed owing to industrialisation and economic expansion, low pay and poor working conditions caused social unrest. Workers often came out in strike. On 8 March 1857, US women factory workers staged a protest to call for better working conditions. The protest led to the establishment of the first trade union in 1859.

It subsequently became a custom to protest on March 8. The most remarkable of such protests took place in 1908, when some 15,000 women gathered in New York. The day became a symbol of women's struggle for their rights.

International Women's Day (IWD, aka International Working Women's Day)is observed in the People's Republic of China. That day all women in China have a half-day off. International Women's Day is now celebrated in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

International Year of Women

The UN formally recognised IWD in 1975, which was proclaimed International Women's Year (IWY). The UN has since recognised women's right to strive for gender equality and their right to participate in social affairs.