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23 February 2009

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN”S DAY - MARCH 8TH 

Women work two-thirds of the world's working hours, produce half of the world's food, and yet earn only 10% of the world's income and own less than 1% of the world's property.

Of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty around the world, 70% are women.

Women do about 66% of the world's work in return for less than 5% of its income.

In the least developed countries Nearly twice as many women over age 15 are illiterate compared to men.

Two-thirds of children denied primary education are girls, and 75% of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults are women.

The above statistics (taken from the Millennium Campaign website highlight the injustice experienced by women and illustrate why the Millennium Development Goals specifically address some women’s issues.

Each year around the world, International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 to highlight the economic, political and social achievements of women.

IWD each year also draws attention to a particular issue through a choice of theme for the day. The United Nations theme in 2009 is "Women and men united to end violence against women and girls"

According to Amnesty International violence against women is the most widespread human rights abuse in the world. Every day, thousands of women and girls are abused in their own homes, raped in armed conflicts, murdered by their families, attacked for speaking up and defending women's rights.

Amnesty has a "stop violence campaign against women" on the above website.

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