The International Womens Day celebration in Sri Lanka under the theme "Women's knowledge and strength to uplift the country” will be held on March 8 at the BMICH under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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. In 1909 the first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on 28 February. The Socialist Party of America designated this day in honour of the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York, where women protested against working conditions.
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen in 1910, 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. As a result of the Copenhagen initiative, International Women's Day was marked for the first time in March 2011 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. 100 years on International Women’s Day (IWD) falling on 8 March 2011, has become a global mainstream phenomena celebrated across many countries.
According to Child Development and Women's Affairs Minister Tissa Karalliyadde around 2500 representatives from women organisations islandwide would participate at this event at the BMICH. He said “Women were the worst affected by terrorism in Sri Lanka and the time has come to ameliorate the sufferings of women and render every possible assistance to them to upgrade their lives”
A five year action plan for women will be launched this year apart from the ongoing development projects such as self employment projects, exhibitions & sales centers for women's products, housing loans, and consultancy services.
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