Shaping A Better Future

These tenacious and inspiring female 'treps speak with the same voice: don't wait for the perfect time. Just start.

International Women’s Day has a rich history. The first glimpse of it was in 1909 when the Socialist Party of America celebrated 15 000 women who protested long work hours, low pay, and the lack of voting rights in New York City.

Originally called National Woman’s Day, the monumental annual celebration spread across the world (officially celebrated in 1911), but it was Russia who unknowingly set the March 8 trend. Although International Women’s Day became an official holiday in Russia in 1913, women still experienced difficulties caused by WWI. Men were off at war, and women had to deal with food shortages and a government that wouldn’t listen to them.

On March 8, 1917 (February 23 in the former Russian calendar), tens of thousands of Russian women took to the streets demanding change. The unified cry for help paved the way for Russian women to be granted voting rights soon after.

Following discussions, International Women’s Day was agreed to be marked annually on March 8. In 1975, the United Nations officially recognised International Women’s Day, and, in 1996, began to adopt an annual theme for every year.

The theme for 2021 is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, to celebrate the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here at home, we all realise the need to promote and encourage entrepreneurship to create a beneficial future for all. Our women play a big role in this, being often both caregivers and tenacious business owners.