International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since in the early 1900’s – a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. International Women’s Day is a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender parity. No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women’s Day. Many organizations declare an annual IWD theme that supports their specific agenda or cause, and some of these are adopted more widely with relevance than others.

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights,” says world-renowned feminist, journalist and social and political activist Gloria Steinem. Thus International Women’s Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action – whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, International Women’s Day has been occurring for well over a century – and continue’s to grow from strength to strength.

March 1 is Zero Discrimination Day, an annual worldwide event that promotes diversity and recognizes that everyone counts.

Organizations like the United Nations (UN) actively promote the day with various activities to celebrate everyone’s right to live a full life with dignity regardless of age, gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, skin color, height, weight, profession, education, and beliefs.

Many countries have laws against discrimination but it’s still a problem in all layers of society in every country in the world. Many countries have and still use discrimination as a way of governing.

The symbol for Zero Discrimination Day is the butterfly, widely used by people to share their stories and photos as a way to end discrimination and work towards positive transformation.

What’s Open or Closed?

Zero Discrimination Day is a global observance and not a public holiday so it’s business as usual.

About Zero Discrimination Day

The UN first celebrated Zero Discrimination Day on March 1, 2014, after UNAIDS, a UN program on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign on World AIDS Day in December 2013.

The United Nations’ (UN) International Mother Language Day annually celebrates language diversity and variety worldwide on February 21. It also remembers events such as the killing of four students on February 21, 1952, because they campaigned to officially use their mother language, Bengali, in Bangladesh.

What Do People Do?

On International Mother Language Day the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and UN agencies participate in events that promote linguistic and cultural diversity. They also encourage people to maintain their knowledge of their mother language while learning and using more than one language. Governments and non-governmental organizations may use the day to announce policies to encourage language learning and support.

In Bangladesh, February 21 is the anniversary of a pivotal day in the country’s history. People lay flowers at a Shaheed Minar (martyr’s monument). They also: purchase glass bangles for themselves or female relatives; eat a festive meal and organize parties; and award prizes or host literary competitions. It is a time to celebrate Bangladesh’s culture and the Bengali language.

The Linguapax Institute, in Barcelona, Spain, aims to preserve and promote linguistic diversity globally. The institute presents the Linguapax Prize on International Mother Language Day each year. The prize is for those who have made outstanding work in linguistic diversity or multilingual education.

Public Life

International Mother Language Day is a public holiday in Bangladesh, where it is also known as Shohid Dibôsh, or Shaheed Day. It is a global observance but not a public holiday in other parts of the world.

Background

At the partition of India in 1947, the Bengal province was divided according to the predominant religions of the inhabitants. The western part became part of India and the eastern part became a province of Pakistan known as East Bengal and later East Pakistan. However, there was economic, cultural and lingual friction between East and West Pakistan.

These tensions were apparent in 1948 when Pakistan’s government declared that Urdu was the sole national language. This sparked protests amongst the Bengali-speaking majority in East Pakistan. The government outlawed the protests but on February 21, 1952, students at the University of Dhaka and other activists organized a protest. Later that day, the police opened fire at the demonstrators and killed four students. These students’ deaths in fighting for the right to use their mother language are now remembered on International Mother Language Day.

The unrest continued as Bengali speakers campaigned for the right to use their mother language. Bengali became an official language in Pakistan on February 29, 1956. Following the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Bangladesh became an independent country with Bengali as its official language.

On November 17, 1999, UNESCO proclaimed February 21 to be International Mother Language Day and it was first observed on February 21, 2000. Each year the celebrations around International Mother Language Day concentrate on a particular theme.

Symbols

The Shaheed Minar (martyr’s monument) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pays homage to the four demonstrators killed in 1952. There have been three versions of the monument. The first version was built on February 22-23 in 1952 but the police and army destroyed it within a few days. Construction on the second version started in November 1957, but the introduction of martial law stopped construction work and it was destroyed during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

The third version of the Shaheed Minar was built to similar plans as the second version. It consists of four standing marble frames and a larger double marble frame with a slanted top portion. The frames are constructed from marble and stand on a stage, which is raised about four meters (14 feet) above the ground. The four frames represent the four men who died on February 21, 1952, and the double frame represents their mothers and country. Replicas of the Shaheed Minar have been constructed worldwide where people from Bangladesh have settled, particularly in London and Oldham in the United Kingdom.

An International Mother Language Day monument was erected at Ashfield Park in Sydney, Australia, on February 19, 2006.  It consists of a slab of slate mounted vertically on a raised platform. There are stylized images of the Shaheed Minar and the globe on the face of the stone. There are also the words “we will remember the martyrs of 21st February” in English and Bengali and words in five alphabets to represent mother languages on five continents where people live.

Gender equality has always been a core issue for the United Nations. Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution not only to economic development of the world, but to progress across all the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well.

On 14 March 2011, the Commission on the Status of Women adopted a report at its fifty-fifth session, with agreed conclusions on access and participation of women and girls in education, training and science and technology, and for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work. On 20 December 2013, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on science, technology and innovation for development, in which it recognized that full and equal access to and participation in science, technology and innovation for women and girls of all ages is imperative for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

On 15 December 2015, the General Assembly adopted the resolution, deciding to proclaim 11 February of each year of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The United Nations invites all Member States, all organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, the private sector and academia, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to observe the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in an appropriate manner, including through education and public awareness-raising activities, in order to promote the full and equal participation of women and girls in education, training, employment and decision-making processes in the sciences, eliminate all discrimination against women, including in the field of education and employment, and overcome legal, economic, social and cultural barriers thereto by, inter alia, encouraging the development of science education policies and programming, including school curricula, as appropriate, to encourage greater participation of women and girls, promote career development for women in science and recognize the achievements of women in science.

It has been a few weeks since the UK government announced a proposal to bury the A303 under Stonehenge. Since then there has been disagreements among the archaeologists and conservation groups on the impact of the tunnel underneath the World Heritage site. It has been widely reported by news outlets that some are regarding it as a historic victory, others as a disaster which will irreparably damage the world heritage site.

In fact, as the UK newspaper, Guardian has reported the English Heritage and the National Trust – the two organizations that are considered the owners of the site and the surrounding landscape have hailed the outcome and the announcement as a momentous victory for the historic environment, However many conservation experts have accused these organizations of abuse of guardianship for accepting a tunnel far too short to solve any problems. Several different organizations including Stonehenge Alliance – which represents conservation groups including Friends of the Earth, the archaeology campaign group Rescue, and Aslan, the sacred landscape network whose members include pagans and druids have now joined together and are expressing major concerns that the short short tunnel plan will create serious damage to the landscape on each side, within the world heritage site. The Alliance has launched a petition for a tunnel at least twice the length the government proposed.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Mike Heyworth, director of the Council for British Archaeology, said a tunnel with both entrance and exits within the world heritage site “would have major implications for the archaeology – we should be asking whether a major expansion of the roads network at Stonehenge just to meet traffic needs is the most appropriate way to deal with such a site”. However, English Heritage and the National Trust, remain positive about the announcement..

On January 13^th, 2017, the UNESCO released the following statement- from the UNESCO’s website:

http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1617

State of Conservation of the World Heritage Property Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites

Over the last several months, the World Heritage Centre has received numerous messages from citizens and NGOs expressing their concerns regarding the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down project including a proposed tunnel located within the boundaries of the World Heritage property “Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites”, and the adverse impact it may have on the property.

It should be noted that the competent authorities of the State Party of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention (ICOMOS) and the World Heritage Centre are fully informed of the concerns raised by the citizens’ campaign. The state of conservation of the property is being monitored by all parties in accordance with the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

The World Heritage Centre would like also to recall that a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS advisory mission to the property took place in 2015 at the request of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The mission report is available on the web-site for public consultation: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/373/documents/  

Only after a few short months and the major announcement that Palmyra had been freed from the control of Islamic terrorists, the group has returned to cause more destruction.

It was only in May 2016, when Russia marked the capture of Palmyra from Islamic terrorists by sending the Mariinsky Theatre to perform a surprise concert, highlighting the Kremlin’s role in winning back the city. The concert as reported by Russian news agencies was held just over a month after Russian air strikes helped push Islamic militants out of Palmyra. However, it is not clear how and why the Russian forces and the Syrian government has now lost the control of the city and the unique heritage site. According to Reuters, the Syrian Government lost control of Palmyra to Islamic State in December, the second time the jihadist group had overrun the UNESCO world heritage site in the six-year-long Syrian conflict. It is believed that Islamic Terrorists came back into Palmyra again in December when the Syrian army and its allies were focused on capturing the city of Aleppo from the rebel opposition groups against Assad government. It has been reported that the destruction took place sometime between December 26 and January 10 as reported by the Reuters and, according to the satellite imagery of the site.

Islamic Terrorists had previously captured Palmyra in 2015. They held the city for 10 months until Syrian Government forces backed by Russian air power managed to drive them out in March 2017. During its previous spell in control of Palmyra, Islamic State destroyed other monuments there, including its 1,800-year-old monumental arch.

UNESCO director general Irina Bokova said in a recent statement that the destruction constituted “a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity” as stated on the UNESCO site on January 20^th, 2017.

The 2,700-year-old sculpture, which is said to be the biggest one in the history of Turkish underwater history, found during examinations in a ship wreckage, which was unearthed last year in November, belonged to a Cypriot goddess.

The works, carried out by Dokuz Eylül University (DEU) Marine Science and Technology Institute, unearthed the sculpture 43 meters under water, and is reported to date back to the archaic period.

According to Daily News The institute’s Aegean Research and Application Center (EBAMER) Deputy Director and the head of the excavations, Associate Professor Harun Özdaş, , said the  This unique artifact belongs to a bare-footed woman wearing a long dress. It most probably is a goddess. We believe its original size is 1.20 centimeters. We failed to find the upper part of the sculpture as we had to stop our searches due to weather conditions. But we plan to start excavations in the region again this year.