Int’l Women’s Day 2004 clebrates efforts of unsung heroines
Today Jamaica celebrates 26 years of participating in the International Women’s Day festivities.
The week-long celebrations marking the special day for women put on by the Bureau of Women’s Affairs kicked off yesterday with a church service at the Falmouth United Church under the theme “Women Celebrate: Voices of the Unsung.”
The theme was created to highlight the unrecognised efforts of women who make valuable contributions to national development.
The highlight of the week’s celebrations will be an awards ceremony today at the Pegasus Hotel for the unsung community workers selected by the bureau.
Other activities throughout the week will include workshops, exhibitions, video presentations and a lecture.
On Wednesday, there will be a special round table discussion on HIV/AIDS and women at the Women’s Resource Outreach Centre (WROC) with Eunidie Johnson, executive director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands of
Toronto, as the special guest.
According to the Bureau, the celebration of Int’l Women’s Day also signifies the heightened recognition of women and their struggles against all forms of exploitation, for equality, for national liberation and for democracy, peace and progress in all countries of the world.
International Women’s Day is officially recognised on March 8 in all countries since October 1975 at a world congress for international Women’s Year in Berlin.
The date earned its significance 96 years ago today, when female needle workers in New York demonstrated for the establishment of a trade union and the right to vote.
