Report of the 2015 International Women’s Day Stakeholder Commemorations
1. Introduction and background
During the first half of March 2015, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission
(ZHRC) conducted events to commemorate the International Women’s Day (IWD)
culminating in the hosting of a Stakeholder Seminar on 13 March 2015 in Harare.
International Women's Day also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s
Rights and International Peace is commemorated annually on the 8th of March. Since
its early conception in the early 1900’s, the International Women’s Day has assumed
a global dimension and has been celebrated by the United Nations (UN) since 1975.
The annual commemoration serves to focus attention on the rights of women around
the world, and highlights women's issues globally focusing on their achievements.
ZHRC, as a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) with the mandate to promote,
protect and enforce human rights and fundamental freedoms (S243 of the
Constitution) took an active and visible role in commemorating International
Women’s. The commemorative events were as follows: a) appearing on this Morning
Zimbabwe TV Programme on 5 March; b) Issuing of Press Statements on 8 March;
c) Radio Public Seminars from 9 - 11 March and d) Stakeholder Seminar on 13
March 2015. The commemorative events were a strategic platform for enhancing
visibility of ZHRC, in particular, by promoting awareness on the Thematic Working
Group (TWG) on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights and creating increased
awareness of women’s rights.
The global theme for 2015, “Make it Happen” (Beijing +20) encourages more
effective action for advancing and recognising women and girls. The United Nations
(UN) or international theme is “Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity:
Picture It”. Countries can localise the theme to suit their context. The Zimbabwe
theme for this year’s commemorations is “Beijing + 20: The Journey Towards
Women Empowerment in Zimbabwe: Successes and Challenges”.
In line with the country theme, the commemorative events created an interactive
platform for ZHRC and key stakeholders including the public at large to take stock of
the effectiveness of measures adopted to promote rights of women and girls in
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