INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

ACROSTIC

W- onderful being, giver of life
O- ut of this world your actions are
M- arvellous, stimulating, intelligent and loving woman
A- re men what we really are without you?
N- one can say that is right, because nothing compares to you!

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. Following is a brief chronology of the most important events:

1908

Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.

1909

In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.

1910
The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911
As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.

1913-1914
As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

1917
With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

1918 - 1999

Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women’s Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

2000 - 2010

IWD is now an official holiday in Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights.

The Role of the United Nations

Few causes promoted by the United Nations have generated more intense and widespread support than the campaign to promote and protect the equal rights of women. The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Since then, the Organization has helped create a historic legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.

Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: promotion of legal measures; mobilization of public opinion and international action; training and research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics; and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups. Today a central organizing principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society's most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment, of the world's women.

For more information, contact:
Development Section Department of Public Information Room S-1040, United Nations, New York, NY 10017Email: mediainfo@un.org
Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information--DPI/1878--January 1997

National Women’s History Month

March is a special month. On the 8th we celebrate the International Women’s Day; a day celebrating and recognizing the achievements of women. Over the years, many of these women’s accomplishments have been commemorated. We do not have in Colombia a history of recognition of the important role of women in our country, but you can change that. This activity is a simple way to do it. If you need help in solving the puzzle, please refer to the resources at

http://www.usps.com/

www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0768442.html

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1706&dat=19890927&id=gXAbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MFMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5803,3920519

http://www.google.com.co/search?q=mujeres+importantes+historia+colombia&hl=es&sa=X&tbo=p&tbs=tl:1,tlul:1600,tluh:2010,tl_num:10,tll:1815,tlh:1819&ei=_YiUS4ahNZOXtgfUmvHUCg&oi=timeline_histogram_main&ct=timeline-histogram&cd=4&ved=0CHAQyQEoBA

http://ewh.ieee.org/reg/9/documentos/files/wie-concurso/historia_mujer_colombia_ing_ciencia_LParra.pdf



1. In this year the first woman comes to study in a Colombian university. __ __ __ __

2. She wasn’t the first woman on a postage stamp, but she was the first First Lady of the Republic of Colombia. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

3. This woman wasn’t young to fight by herself but she did something that General José María Córdoba considered was a real demonstration of love for the country.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

4. You’re never too young to love your country. This brave woman was a heroine of Independence who gave his life for his country. She was executed on the 14th November, 1817 for not betraying her comrades. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

5. The first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize, her novel Ethan Frome is read in many high schools in the USA today. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

6. In 1914 she founded the Congregation of Missionaries of Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena. It is in the process of sanctification and now bears the title "Servant of God".
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

7. This Russian-American novelist wrote The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
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8. We loved her as well as her “Laundry Service”. __ __ __ __ __ __ __

9. Christopher Columbus traveled uncharted waters for this queen.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

10. Up, up, and away she flew solo and nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

11. Before “La Chechi”, this woman was considered the greatest athlete of the twentieth century in Colombia.
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12. She was the leader bringing many of her slaves to their freedom.
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