March 8 is International Women’s Day; a day set aside to promote women’s social and political rights and also a time of celebration of womanhood. Women all over the world commemorate this day through several activities.
The global theme for this year’s commemoration is “Shaping progress.” It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.

Previously, women were not allowed to vote, appear in public or even voice an opinion but there has been some progress in most parts of the world including Southern Africa, with women now voting, attaining the highest educational qualifications they can wish for and becoming heads of governments. Examples of women in leadership include the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South Africa and Zimbabwe’s female vice presidents Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka and Joice Mujuru respectively.   Many countries also now firmly recognize the rights of women and have put in place laws to protect them from abuse and violence. Zimbabwe and Kenya are two countries that have recently put in place laws to protect women from gender based violence
However the battle is still far from won as women in different parts of the world are still being discriminated against in the work place and in the economic sector. Growing disparities in the numbers of men and women living with HIV still exist, with women at 80 percent, making up the larger number of those infected.
Key issues

• Women remain largely disempowered when it comes to matters of reproductive health. There is need to continue to heighten awareness of gender disparity issues and how they fuel HIV infection in women. The media can also highlight that women have sexual rights and are entitled to make decisions that affect their health.
• Millions of women in the region are not fully aware of their rights as human beings as evidenced by the blatant abuse they are subjected to. Reports from Kenya and other battle area show that women suffer the most in times of political instability. There is need during this time of the year for the media to raise awareness around such issues and lobby for change.
• While many countries now have laws like the Domestic Violence Act of 2007 in Zimbabwe and the Domestic Violence Act of 1999 in South Africa to protect women against gender based violence, very few women are aware of that fact and as a result they do not use the law to protect themselves. The media should begin to lead the way in promoting and raising people’s knowledge and interest around such issues. Combating gender based violence contributes to the reduction of the spread of HIV.  
• International Women’s Day is set aside specifically to commemorate and celebrate womanhood but many women do not even know of its existence. While the event is commemorated on a large scale with rallies, business conferences, marches and networking in major cities and centres- many women at grassroots level (for example rural areas and farming communities) remain ignorant of the day and what it stands for The media should make sure that women have the chance to know of these important days and their significance in their lives. Policy makers and opinion leaders, among them women’s organizations, Aids service organisations and politicians should be put to task to ensure that they make their constituents aware of such days and commemorations.
• Different countries and organizations have already come up with themes that are specific for their programmes and plan of actions like the UN theme   “Investing in Women and Girls,” which shows an intense focus on financing for gender equality at country, regional and global level. It is important to look at what the different countries we live and work in are doing and take part as media in these events. At the UN Headquarters in New York, a commemoration of the day will take place in two segments, the opening and the high level session. Gender Links is already circulating some articles on women’s issues from the region. If nothing is being done in your country, this should be challenged.
• There have been complaints from the women’s movement that women’s issues are only raised around International women’s Day and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. The media is challenged to ensure that women’s issues, along with those of men, girls and boys, remain on its agenda throughout the year. According to International Women’s Day in a capability brochure released on-line:”Gender-sensitive approaches are central to effectively progressing internationally agreed development goals. Women and men, girls and boys, need to shape, contribute to, and benefit from, development. This is best achieved by explicitly identifying and addressing their respective interests and needs.” 
• Shaping progress should be all about looking at past successes and building on them to go to future progresses. The successes of women should be celebrated in the media during this time. More female voices should be heard while commentary and opinion should also be sought from more women. The media is still largely dominated by men’s voices while comments and opinion are still sought more from men. It would also be good to include the voices of HIV positive women and highlight their experiences, compare and see if they face the challenges as their male counterparts.

Sources:
www.internationalwomen’sday.com/about.asp
www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd
www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/women/womday97.htm
www.daysthatspeaks.com/world/mar/women’s.html
www.iwda.org.au/wp/index.php