Women's Day

I am in Arusha because we are hosting a 3-day workshop on regional integration and professional standards.  Over yet another buffet breakfast (things on that front are getting dire), a delegate from Uganda asked me: “are you celebrating today?” Self-absorbed as I am, my first reaction was how do you know its my birthday? But then I realized – it’s International Women’s Day.

Although they are not related, I have always felt proud to be born on International Women’s day.  We do, as the Chinese proverb says, “hold up half of the sky” (I also highly recommend the book of the same title).  What’s more, I have the privilege of having some truly remarkable women in my life, whose achievements I aspire to, determination I admire and whose capacity for love and generosity we should all aim to emulate. To those of you who are reading this: happy Women’s Day.

On a broader level, this morning’s breakfast conversation got me thinking about the differences in how Women’s Day is commemorated around the world.  At home in Canada, there is inevitably an reception hosted by the law society or LEAF about equality and inclusion and of course the achievements of women in the legal profession and beyond.  So when my companion told me that in Uganda Women’s Day is not only a public holiday, but also a day where men are supposed to do special things for women, I was genuinely surprised.  This is a celebration of women on a much more personal level.  Unlike Mother’s Day, its scope includes us all.  Obviously biased, I am drawn to this – mothers or not, all of us do things that are cause for celebration.  In development studies, time and time again it is affirmed that if you invest in a woman, the benefits to a community are manifold.  These accounts aren’t of women who have changed the world, they are women who have changed their worlds and consequently have improved the lives of others.  A celebration of their individual contributions, how fitting.

To every woman, may today your burden be light.