By Girish Linganna

Mar 8: On International Women's Day, women are celebrated for their accomplishments, surpassing divisions such as nationality, ethnicity, language, culture, economic status, or political beliefs.

Women worldwide face numerous obstacles in various sectors, including gender discrimination, unequal pay, and limited opportunities. Despite these challenges, they have persevered and succeeded in overcoming many barriers.

Every year on March 8, International Women's Day is observed globally.

In 1977, the United Nations officially acknowledged International Women's Day, a decision influenced by numerous labor movements across North America and Europe throughout the 20th century.

This occasion is observed in many countries to honor women's accomplishments, disregarding any differences in nationality, culture, ethnicity, politics, economics, and language.

The United Nations stated, "The expansion of the global women's movement, reinforced by four worldwide UN conferences on women's issues, has transformed the observance into a focal point for advocating women's rights and their involvement in political and economic fields."

International Women’s Day 2024: Theme

The theme for this year's International Women's Day is 'Invest in women: Accelerate Progress'. It emphasizes the importance of focusing on women's welfare and promoting gender equality across various aspects of life as key components in building thriving economies and ensuring the health of our planet.

Nevertheless, the United Nations has highlighted a significant obstacle: a concerning annual shortfall of $360 billion in efforts towards achieving gender equality by the year 2030.

The $360 billion annual funding gap highlights insufficient resources for gender equality efforts, jeopardizing the achievement of the 2030 goals. It emphasizes the urgent need for increased investments and stronger commitments from governments, organizations, and the private sector to address this shortfall and ensure global progress in gender equality.

The organization identified five critical areas requiring collaborative efforts:

- Gender equality as a fundamental human rights issue: Addressing gender equality is seen as the most significant challenge in human rights, essential for everyone's benefit.

- Combating poverty: The UN reports that the pandemic pushed 75 million people into poverty, emphasizing the need for immediate measures to prevent 342 million women and girls from falling into poverty by 2030.

- Advocating for gender-sensitive financial policies: With global prices rising and conflicts increasing, there's a concern that 75% of countries may cut public spending by 2025, negatively affecting women's access to basic needs.

- Transitioning to sustainable economics and care: The current economic model disproportionately harms women, underscoring the importance of moving towards a green economy and care-focused society to enhance women's roles.

- Empowering feminist movements: Feminist groups and organizations receive a mere 0.13% of official development aid, highlighting a need for greater support.

International Women’s Day 2024: Significance

International Women's Day plays a crucial role in acknowledging the significant contributions of women in various sectors globally. Despite progress, women still face hurdles like wage inequality, limited access to education, healthcare, and leadership roles, and lack of equal respect in some areas.

This day serves as a prompt that the battle for gender equality continues and that concrete actions are necessary to achieve a harmonious society.

(The author Girish Linganna of this article is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru. He is also Director of ADD Engineering Components, India, Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany. You can reach out to him at: girishlinganna@gmail.com)