You’ve come a long way, baby! So do we still need International Women’s Day on March 8? asks Charlene Lambert.

Some 103 years ago, in March 1911, more than one million women and men in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland observed International Women’s Day rallies, campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained and hold public office and to end discrimination.

This era was a period of unrest and debate among women in many countries, and a turbulent period in the industrialised world. Some women were able to work at jobs outside the home, albeit with long hours and low pay, but wanted better conditions, and they managed to muster the courage to say and do some thing about it.

Recognition and celebration

The March 1911 rallies are now recognised as the world’s first International Women’s Day.

Since then, IWD has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike, and is now an official holiday in over 25 countries around the world, from Afghanistan and Armenia, to Vietnam and Zambia.

Women’s organsations and governments observe IWD annually by holding events that honour women’s advancement, while carefully reminding us of the continued attention and action required to ensure that women’s equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.

Reflection

International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on the progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played important roles in their communities.

So even though they’ve come a long way, every year on March 8, at their IWD dinner, the members of the Women’s Business Initiative International in The Hague celebrate women’s achievements around the world.

We also remember the many women around the world who are still struggling to gain the rights that others already have.

At the same time, we focus in particular on those women who have had the courage and determination to start their own business in the Netherlands.

The WBII network is a source of inspiration and support for its members who, for various reasons – including difficulties in finding paid employment, the preference for practicing their own profession or the desire to start new innovative businesses – have decided to become entrepreneurs.

Achievements

In the Netherlands, it would appear that women’s rights have more or less been achieved. After all, women have the right to vote; they enjoy paid maternity leave and flexible working conditions; and schoolgirls are welcomed into university — women have real choices.

The tone and nature of IWD has begun to shift, from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives. So why bother to observe, and even celebrate, International Women’s Day annually, especially here in such a developed country?

Research out on Friday from the Dutch statistics office CBS shows that although young women have overtaken men, the pay gap still remains 18%.

On average, the income of Dutch women is 64% that of men. This is due in part to the fact that many Dutch women work in part-time jobs – some 70% in 2012.

Dutch women usually have primary responsibility for taking care of the home and children, and for these reasons do not work full time. This negatively impacts on their ability to successfully move up the corporate ladder into more responsible positions.

So what about women on boards and in management? Dutch women are poorly represented at higher management levels in comparison with other European countries. Just one in four senior managers in the Netherlands is a woman. 

With the current rate of progress, 0.5 percentage points per year, it will take 50 years to reach a decent gender balance of 40% on the boards of European companies.

Parliament

The percentage of female parliamentarians in the Netherlands is relatively high in comparison with the other EU countries. Women have 36% of the seats in the lower and upper houses. However, with women representing more than 50% of the inhabitants, they still do not represent their full potential in the Dutch government.

Thanks to the United Nations, IWD became global in the 1970s. It is associated with demands to end gender inequalities, and ‘to make women’s rights and participation in the political and economic process a growing reality’.

UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon maintains that equality for women is progress for all, and stated: ‘Countries with more gender equality have better economic growth.’

‘Companies with more women leaders perform better. Peace agreements that include women are more durable. Parliaments with more women enact more legislation on key social issues such as health, education, anti-discrimination and child support. The evidence is clear: equality for women means progress for all,’ he said.

And what is why we still need International Women’s Day in 2014.

Charlene Lambert is vice president of Women’s Business Initiative International in The Hague.