NGO-CEDAW encourages everyone to join its members in celebrating the important contributions of women to society and calling for women’s full equal rights with men.
Goals for 2015
Cambodia’s women still do not have equal standing as men in society, but the government has many opportunities in 2015 to improve the situation. NGO-CEDAW and its member NGOs especially urge the government to take the following actions this year:
- Ending the practice of evicting families from their homes via land grants;
- Freeing women activists from prison;
- Amending the law on domestic violence to broaden the types of abuse covered by the law and to create better enforcement;
- Ratify International Labor Organization Convention 183 (ILO-183) providing maternity rights for women workers;
- Improve the health and safety of the over 500,000 women garment workers who live and work in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
History of International Women’s Day
The holiday began in 1908 as a series of Women’s Day events in the United States, then spread to Europe a few years later. At the time, women in the West were working in larger numbers than ever before in the garment industry and as domestic workers under very poor conditions and did not have the right to vote or run for political office. Women’s Day events called for better working conditions and political rights for women. In 1911, activist Clara Zetkin promoted joint International Women’s Day events in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. During World War I and the Russian revolution, the day was also used to protest war. The first March 8 event was is Russia in 1917. The day gained momentum in 1975 when the United Nations officially adopted March 8 as International Women’s Day and encouraged all nations to observe it as a day of recognizing women’s equality. In Beijing in 1995, 189 countries signed an agreement to eradicate discrimination against women in educational, economic and political spheres. This month, the United Nations is observing International Women’s Day with conference in New York on the 20th anniversary of the Beijing events.
Activities for International Women’s Day
NGO-CEDAW and 19 of its partners are sponsoring marches, forums, radio shows and dance events throughout Cambodia from March 5 through March 10, 2015. Some of the many events in Phnom Penh which you are invited to join are:
March 5: 8:30am – Watch Bayon TV for a talk on Beijing +20 and International Women’s Day
7:30am-noon – Join SILIKA for a solidary gathering at Lila Center, No. 36 St.508 (corner of 103)
March 8: 9am-10am – Listen to VOD radio (FM 106.5) for a talk on short-term contracts
3pm-7pm at Freedom Park: March and dancing.
