The past year has been marked by many achievements for women.
The past year has been marked by many achievements for women – Janet Yellen became the first female chair of the Federal Reserve, Malala Yousafzai was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and Sheryl Sandberg started a movement with Lean In. As we observe International Women’s Day on Saturday, companies should not only take the opportunity to celebrate the progress of women, but also think about how women can make an even greater impact in the world.
T he theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “Inspiring Change” and many organizations are doing just that, among them Gap, Walmart and IndieGoGo. We are proud that Diversified Agency Services, a division of Omnicom Group and Cone’s parent company, is starting its own Women’s Day movement by enlisting its more than 190 agencies to celebrate and empower women across the globe. Its dedicated microsite displays these diverse efforts, such as how Critical Mass Singapore will be bringing awareness to local Samsui women by purchasing Samsui dolls and sending them across the Omnicom network and Alcone Marketing is holding a professional clothing drive to benefit a local nonprofit.
In some countries
such as Cameroon, Croatia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Chile, the day is not a public holiday, but is widely observed nonetheless. On this day it is customary for men to give the women in their lives – friends, mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, colleagues, etc. – flowers and small gifts. In some countries (such as Bulgaria and Romania) it is also observed as an equivalent of Mother’s Day, where children also give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.
IWD 2018
The theme for International Women’s Day 2018 was chosen as – ‘Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives’. The day is an official holiday in Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.
