While International Women’s Day has been informally celebrated since the early 1900s, the United Nations officially recognized it in 1975, marking it as an annual observance to commemorate the importance of the woman in all aspects of society. In many countries, International Women’s Day has graduated to the status of national holiday, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia, Cuba, Georgia, Eritrea, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, among others.

We commend the efforts made these past several years in the United States towards raising the position of women. Federal agencies, including USAID or the state, defense, and justice departments, have taken heed to President Obama’s December 2011 Executive Order to establish a U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security to ensure women’s participation in preventing conflict and keeping peace. In August of 2012, we celebrated the introduction of the Women, Peace, and Security Act to ensure that this National Action Plan would become more than just an executive order, that we would eventually see its implementation as national legislation.

Most recently, Congress passed the historical Violence Against Women Act. This strengthened our justice system and social services to ensure that women can protect themselves from violence within our own borders, that we can reduce the high rates of physical and sexual violence, so women can safely participate in all aspects of society without fear of attack.

In terms of women’s political participation, an historical number of females were elected composing 18.9% of the 113^th United States Congress—or 101 of the 535 seats (20 Senators, 81 House Members). To name a few significant achievements, Massachusetts saw its first woman elected to Senate (Elizabeth Warren). Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay and female politician to the Senate. New Hampshire became the first state with an all female delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.

And yet, there is still much to worry about. We may have seen historical gains, but we still fail to rank up to many other countries. While we may have 18.9% participation in Congress, many other countries charge ahead, including Iraq with 25.2% female composition of Parliament or Afghanistan with 27.7%. The Inter-Parliamentary Union ranks the United States as 77th out of 190 countries in terms of female participation. This is unacceptable for a country that prides itself on equality.

In the early 1900s, International Women’s Day focused on improving women’s status in the labor force. Certainly we have achieved much progress in this area since that time. However, women continue to be unfairly discriminated against in the workplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women have lost 454,000 federal, state, and local government jobs compared with 267,000 by men since the end of the recession in June 2009 (Bloomberg News).

Even this past January, government payrolls cut approximately 8,000 positions for women compared with 1,000 for men. This imbalance is bound to continue as sequestration descends upon our economy, possibly trimming growth by 0.5% and prospectively eliminating 350,000 more jobs, according to Bloomberg News.

Take a moment this International Women’s Day to remember all that women have achieved and that still more needs to be done. Take part in the celebration of women by finding an event near you. We must remember that equality and protection for women means stability worldwide.

-Hannah Wheeler, Communications and Development Intern – Boston College Class of 2012

According to the United Nations website dedicated to the history of IWD, “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.”

WAND is no stranger to the mission of International Women’s Day. For over twenty- five years, WAND has worked with activists throughout the world to help promote peace and to help women get ‘a seat at the table of power’. Our grassroots efforts toward a world that re-directs excessive military spending towards human and social needs has played an important role in legislation in the past 25 years. Our WiLL program with women state legislators has provided a vital link from State Capitols to the nation’s capitol for over 18 years.  We were originally founded as “Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament” and now as Women’s Action for New Directions we continue to work on concrete steps to move towards a safer world without nuclear weapons.  We also maintain a UN representative tracking actions that affect women and peace.

We have succeeded many times in the past twenty five years and International Women’s Day gives us a reason to pause and take note of all that we have accomplished so far, and all that is still left to do.

The United States has not yet ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women. We are one of only 7 countries that have failed to ratify this treaty. In places where the treaty has been ratified, significant improvements have already been made: Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan have seen increases in literacy rates. Australia, Brazil, and others have actually incorporated parts of the CEDAW treaty right into their constitutions. The United States Senate should ratify  CEDAW and show that the advancement of women and girls’ rights around the world is a priority.

Tell Obama to support CEDAW now!

Since the U.S. led forces overthrew the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, the promotion of women’s rights has generated much public debate. While some commentators suggest that prolonged military occupation is needed to protect women,  a recent report, titled Afghan Women Speak by David Cortright and Sara Smiles Persinger notes that “ it will be impossible for girls and women to  consolidate their gains in a militarized environment.”   The report emphasizes that Afghan women need to be part of the peace process- not an afterthought.  It is essential for women to be included in the peace negotiations in order to ensure that their needs are met and that a successful and sustainable peace is achieved.

You can learn more about women in Afghanistan here.

Although International Women’s Day has passed, the entire month of March is devoted to the amazing history of women. During Women’s History Month, make sure to use this time to make sure that as a woman YOUR voice is heard in  Congress. For information on how to take action with WAND, go to our Action Center.