Pastor Mensa Otabil has encouraged women to be “ambitious, courageous and fearless” as Ghana joins the rest of the world to celebrate International Women’s Day, today, Thursday, 8 March 2018.
In a message to mark the day, the founder and leader of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) tweeted: “Women are an integral part of our societies and we celebrate all women today. To every woman, I encourage you to be ambitious, courageous and fearless!”
This year’s celebration is under the theme: “Press for Progress”.
The day has been set aside to recognise the achievements of women without regard to national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political divisions.
The first observance of a Women's Day was held on 28 February 1909 in New York.
March 8 was suggested by the 1910 International Woman's Conference to become an International Woman's Day.
Women are an integral part of our societies and we celebrate all women today. To every woman, I encourage you to be ambitious, courageous and fearless!
— ???????? Mensa Otabil (@MensaOtabil) March 8, 2018
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!#IWD2018 pic.twitter.com/mXUEAzvHa0
After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations.
The Charter of the United Nations, signed in 1945, was the first international agreement to affirm the principle of equality between women and men. Since then, the UN has helped create a historic legacy of internationally-agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.
Over the years, the UN and its technical agencies have promoted the participation of women as equal partners with men in achieving sustainable development, peace, security, and full respect for human rights.
