Status of Women Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Status of Women Canada

www.swc-cfc.gc.ca

International Women's Day

March 8, 2011

Girls' Rights Matter

In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on member states to proclaim a day for women's rights and international peace. Following the United Nations' lead, Canada chose March 8 as International Women's Day (IWD).

Each year at this time, Canadians celebrate progress toward equality for women and their full participation, reflect on the challenges and barriers that remain, and consider future steps to achieving equality for all women, in all aspects of their lives.

Over time, International Women's Day has grown into a week-long series of commemorative events and activities across the country. International Women's Week (IWW) 2011 begins on Sunday, March 6 and wraps up on Saturday, March 12.

We encourage all Canadians - women and men, girls and boys - to promote International Women's Day / International Women's Week. Better yet, why not organize your own IWD/IWW event in your community, organization, workplace or school?

THEME

The theme for International Women's Day and Week 2011 – Girls' Rights Matter / Les droits des filles comptent – focuses on the importance of equality and access to opportunity for all girls and women throughout their lives. This theme encourages us to reflect on the situation of girls in Canada, and to look beyond women's relative privilege domestically, to the international context. This theme also connects to the United Nations theme for International Women's Day 2011: Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women. A girl who enjoys equality has a greater likelihood of being self-confident and aware of her own potential, and of being empowered to access the education, training and career opportunities that will contribute to her success in life.

Click here for past themes.

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FACT SHEET

  • Canadian women have made enormous strides. The current Government has the highest percentage of women in Cabinet in Canadian history. The House of Commons currently has 67 women.

  • Women are also increasing their participation in other aspects of Canadian life. Currently, women make up the majority of full-time students in most university faculties.

  • The labour force participation rate for working-age women (15-64 years) has risen from 68.2 per cent to 74.3 per cent over the past decade (1997-2008). In 2007, women made up 35 per cent of all self-employed individuals.

  • There has also been a long-term increase in the share of women who are working in managerial positions.  In 2007, 35% of those employed in managerial positions were women.
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PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

To assist you in organizing an IWW / IWW 2011 activity, or simply to raise awareness of this year's theme, Status of Women Canada has prepared the following products:

  • Poster, IWD / IWW 2011
    Girls' Rights Matter
    View Description of Poster in HTML (Web page)
    View the Poster in Acrobat® 5* (1 page, 914 KB)


  • Logo to create a Web link
    If you want to promote IWD / IWW 2011 on your Web site, you can create a link to this page by downloading the following logo. Simply right-mouse-click on the image and save your copy now!

    International Women's Day Logo

* In order to open, view, navigate and print Acrobat PDF files, it is necessary to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system. If you do not have this software, it is downloadable free of charge. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader, and follow the instructions to install it.

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TO ORDER A POSTER

The IWD / IWW 2011 Poster (publication # 11-G-001) is available to order online. There is a limit of 50 per school, 20 per organization and 2 per individual.

You can also send your requests by e-mail to publications@swc-cfc.gc.ca or by fax to 613-957-3359. Don't forget to include your mailing address and the number of copies desired.

Please note that you can also download electronic copies in Acrobat®5 from this Web site.

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Date Modified:
2011-03-07