The first International Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated on March 19, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. More than 1 million men and women attended rallies to demand the right for women to vote, to hold public office, and to work, among other things.
As part of the peace movement, Russian women observed their first IWD on the last Sunday in February. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around March 8 of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with other activists.
Today, International Women’s Day is a global day of celebration to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements women around the world have made. It’s also a day of unity, advocacy, and action for the work we still must do to achieve equality. Women for Women International is celebrating International Women’s Day with a campaign called, #MessageToMySister to encourage supporters like you to write messages of friendship to our sisters rebuilding their lives after war and conflict.
Here are three easy ways you can participate in #IWD2019!
1. Record a selfie video, upload it to social media with #MessageToMySister #IWD2019. Don’t forget to tag @WomenforWomen and encourage your friends to share their own messages of support!
2. Visit womenforwomen.org/message (coming soon!) to write a few words of support to our sisters and submit your #MessageToMySister. Afterward, you’ll be able to download/print and share your message on social media
3. Start a fundraiser for our sisters through Women for Women International on Facebook. The money you raise will go directly towards helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives.
4. Create your own message using our new Adobe Spark's remixable template that is linked below. You can share the template directly to your social media channels. Don't forget to tag @womenforwomen and use the hashtags #MessageToMySister, #IWD2019, and #adobespark!