WATCH: The Women’s Organisation tell us why International Women’s Day is so important

Girl Power might have seemed like a sparkling new concept when it burst onto the global stage in the 90’s with the Spice Girls.

But before Ginger, Sporty and the rest of the gang gave a rallying shout-out for the female force, women across the globe had got there first.

For more than 100 years, women have been uniting to highlight their achievements, campaign for equality, and work together for positive change across every social, political and economic platform.

International Women’s Day provides a set date each year – March 8 – to focus on, and celebrate, women all over the world and how far they have come, while highlighting the struggles they still face.

The seeds for IWD were planted in 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Woman’s Day.

It was Clara Zetkin, activist and advocate for women’s rights, who suggested an international day which she put to an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen in 1910 – 100 women, from 17 countries, unanimously agreed.

International Women’s Day was first celebrated in 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, and recognised by the United Nations in 1975.

The UN announced its theme for 2022 as ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’ with events recognising how women around the world are responding to climate change.

But IWD is also urging women to #BreakTheBias, and imagine ‘a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination’; encouraging them to share photos of themselves, with crossed arms in front, to highlight the movement.

“Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day,” organisers say.

“We can break the bias in our communities. We can break the bias in our workplaces. We can break the bias in our schools, colleges and universities.”

You can find out more about ‘Girl Power’ and International Women’s Day, and how you can support it on the Women’s Organisation website here.