The theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March, is “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”.

This year, International Women’s Day comes on the heels of unprecedented global movement for women’s rights, equality and justice. This has taken the form of global marches and campaigns, including #MeToo and #TimesUp in the United States of America and their counterparts in other countries, on issues ranging from sexual harassment and femicide to equal pay and women’s political representation.

Echoing the priority theme of the upcoming 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, International Women’s Day will also draw attention to the rights and activism of rural women, who make up over a quarter of the world population, and are being left behind in every measure of development.

Join us to transform the momentum into action, to empower women in all settings, rural and urban, and to celebrate the activists who are working relentlessly to claim women’s rights and realize their full potential.

The #TimeisNow.

International Women’s Day 2018 – Observance at UN headquarters Join us for the United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day, to be held on 8 March 2018 in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, UN Headquarters, New York. Speakers will include UN Secretary-General, UN Women Executive Director, Reese Witherspoon, Academy Award–winning actor and activist, Danai Gurira, Tony-nominated playwright, actor and activist, and civil society representatives. RSVP