What is the Theme for International Women’s Day 2023?

International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements and successes of women every year on March 8.

And each year, there is a particular theme.

The purpose of International Women’s Day (IWD) is to raise awareness of women’s rights issues and to recognise the accomplishments of women.

Its origins may be traced back to the socialist and labour movements in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly when women were battling for the right to vote and improved working conditions.

In 1911, more than a million people demonstrated in favour of women’s rights in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, marking the first known commemoration.

The event has expanded since then in terms of both size and scope.

The range of topics being addressed now includes anything from workplace equity to violence against women.

Despite the fact that no single organisation is in charge of the celebration, the United Nations frequently leads it, having been given formal recognition for IWD in 1977.

Although certain nations, such as China, Russia, and Uganda, acknowledge IWD as an official holiday, worldwide festivities are often decentralised.

What is the theme for International Women’s Day 2023?

For 2023, the UN is focusing on the subject DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.

The theme focuses on how technology is essential for promoting rights, but that a widening gender disparity in the digital sphere is having an influence on everything from women’s career prospects to online safety.

Women are significantly underrepresented in occupations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and they are 259 million less likely than males to have access to the internet.

On the UN’s website, it says: “Bringing women into technology results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality.

“Their lack of inclusion, by contrast, comes with massive costs.”

Climate change, rural women, and HIV/AIDS have all been prior United Nations topics.

Why is International Women’s Day important?

The UN’s 2023 theme emphasises how the struggle for gender equality has changed in the 21st century, while events all across the world also highlight persistent problems like poverty and violence.

According to research from the World Health Organisation in 2021, one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual abuse at some point in their lives.

This problem is related to women’s access to sex education, economic possibilities and reproductive rights.

While the early movement was mostly concentrated on cisgender white women fighting for voting rights, there has also been a drive to make IWD more inclusive of racialised women as well as of transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals.

While IWD is an opportunity to draw attention to rights disparities, organisers often use the day to highlight the advancement and the successes of women.