Celebrate International Women’s Day By Making A Difference In The Lives of Women Worldwide

International Women's Day
Did you know that 80% of the worlds 27 million refugees are women? Or that of the 1.2 billion people in the world living in poverty 70% are women? Did you know that women do two-thirds of the world’s work but receive only 10% of the world’s income?

Today is International Women’s Day. All around the world, today and for the rest of March, International Women’s Day activities are celebrating the social, political and economic achievements of women, and highlighting the myriad challenges to their safety and well-being that women still face.

Born during the labor protests of the early 1900′s and finally endorsed by the United Nations in 1975, International Women’s Day is an official holiday in over 30 countries. This year’s U.N. theme for Women’s Day is “Women and Men United To End Violence Against Women and Girls”. The official International Women’s Day website lists hundreds of local events in 62 countries that you can participate in. And there are opportunities all over the web to learn more and take action on issues like violence against women and children, wage inequality, women’s economic empowerment and women’s health.

Here are some of the best resources, to help you celebrate the day:

  • The International Women’s Day website has links to articles about women’s issue in categories including work, government, global issues, finance and the arts, as well as ways to network and links to events searchable by location.
  • In honor of International Women’s Day, Global Giving has launched a new campaign called Womenx2. From now until March 27, if you donate $25 to teach 15 women in Afghanistan how to read, Global Giving will make sure 30 women learn to read. If you donate $75 to send one girl to school for a year in Zimbabwe, they’ll match your donation and send a second girl. If you donate $100 so 120 woman in India can start a small business, they’ll make it 240 women. As a bonus, the three projects generating the most number of donations will be eligible for additional bounty awards of $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000, respectively.
  • The United Nations Development Program’s Newsroom has an International Women’s Day special called “Faces of Strength and Courage”, showcasing how women worldwide are key players in democratic governance, poverty alleviation, crisis prevention, environment protection and response to HIV/AIDS.
  • Hot Peach Pages includes a searchable international directory of agencies that need your help to stop domestic violence.
  • The One Campaign posted a toolkit that anyone can use to join the effort to ensure that women and girls are at the center of current efforts to reform U.S. foreign assistance programs.
  • The Girl Effect, an initiative dedicated to enabling the powerful social and economic change brought about by educating girls and giving them opportunities to participate in society, has an excellent video and downloadable action guide that individuals and organizations can use to join the effort to empower girls.

Pledge To End Hunger

Did you know that more than 1 out of every 6 children are going hungry right now in the United States? That’s more than 12 million American children who aren’t getting enough to eat today. And with our deepening recession and rising unemployment, that number is growing every day. More than 30 million Americans are on food stamps and food banks are experiencing unprecedented demand at the same time that donations are shrinking. Here’s one way that you can make a difference today.

The Pledge to End Hunger shines a bright light on hunger in America by asking concerned individuals to be a part of the solution. If you pledge to help by making a donation, volunteering in your community, or sharing information about the Pledge to End Hunger with your network, not only will your contribution make a difference, but Tyson Foods will donate 35 lbs. (140 servings) of food to match your contribution. That’s a tractor trailer load of food for every 1000 pledges. Not bad for one click.

Twitter Action Pack | Social Actions

Twitter Action Pack | Social Actions.

Here’s another great tool from Social Actions. It’s a long list of subscribable Twitter feeds, organized by issue areas like “Disability Actions”, “Climate Actions”, “Democracy Actions” and “Darfur Actions”. Each feed includes actionable items, including opportunties to donate, volunteer, sign a petition, send an email to your representative, or attend an event. So if you have a favorite cause (or ten), you can subcribe and receive regular “tweets”, regularly connecting you with direct ways to make a difference. You’ll need a Twitter account, which you can get here.