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Hectic activity is on this year to commemorate the centenary of International Women's Day on March 8.
In India, apart from film festivals and meetings across the country, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is marking the day by organising a Women's Mela in Chennai in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Trade Unions Joint action forum, comprising representatives of the six central trade unions.
The Mela will bring together around 400 trade union leaders and cadres from the 32 districts of Tamil Nadu to demonstrate “joint commitment to the promotion of gender equality and gender mainstreaming”.
It will particularly focus on domestic workers' issues in Tamil Nadu and present a charter of demands on working women's issues to the State Government, an ILO release here said.
According to latest ILO data, both women and men are feeling the impact of the global economic crisis, with unemployment rate for men standing at 6 per cent in 2010 and 6.5 per cent for women.
segregation
Mr Jane Hodges, ILO Director of the Bureau for Gender Equality, said there was a clear segregation of women in sectors generally characterised by low pay, long hours and informal work arrangements.
“This is reflected in the bigger percentage of women who are trapped in vulnerable employment globally (51.8 per cent) compared to men (48.9 per cent),” he said in a release.
March 8 is an official holiday in about 25 countries, such as Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zambia. Women's organisations and trade unions across the world use this opportunity to highlight issues that affect working women.
Global marches
In London, performer and social activist, Ms Annie Lennox, will lead a mass march across London's Millennium Bridge for charity.
In Washington, D.C., over a thousand people are likely to descend on Capitol Hill demanding a better world for millions of marginalised women and girls around the globe, says a Women's Day Web site.
In Iran, despite a ban, Nobel winner Ms Shirin Ebadi will lead a women's march.
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