How activists across Asia and the Pacific marked International Women’s Day

Credit: Fiji Women's Rights Movement

People marching through the streets of Suva for the yearly 'Reclaim the Night' march organised by Fiji Women's Crisis Centre/

International Women’s Day.

It's a time that has come to mean a lot of different things to people - whether that’s morning tea at the office, a personal celebration of the women in your life or a reminder to support a local, women-focused organisation.

For feminists and women’s rights activists across the world, IWD is a time to join voices and make our message for equal rights loud and clear – “Women’s rights are human rights!”

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” This year’s theme was a clear call to action to unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and create a feminist future where no one is left behind.

Here’s how some of our partners across Asia and the Pacific marked this year’s International Women’s Day - celebrating both how far we’ve come towards gender equality and how far we still have left to go.

Cambodia

In collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, Gender and Development for Cambodia (GADC) supported the launch of a campaign in Baphom District, Prey Veng Province to raise awareness of the employment rights of women migrant workers.

Attended by Prey Veng's Women's Affairs Ministry, the province's Labor Resource Center and the Cambodian National Union Parliament, speakers shared information about migration rights and job security in host countries, including ways to seek help if migrant workers' rights were violated.

"This campaign is very important in contributing to raising awareness about migration among women and men, having access to supporting system and legal aids when any work related dispute occurs and raise awareness about respect rights. This campaign makes participants feel confident and panelists give good recommendation," an event attendee shared.

Credit: Gender and Development for Cambodia

Credit: Gender and Development for Cambodia

International Women's Day also saw the release of a powerful music video by artists SilverBelle Dance, Tharoth Sam and MeDha Women Drummers, sponsored in part by GADC. Titled 'Her Voice', the song celebrates women's power to choose, their courage to speak up and their right to express themselves freely. Watch the video today through GADC's social media channel.

For IWD, Rainbow Community Kampuchea shared a message of support to all the women who have paved the way for progress and equality.

"Every woman has the full right to choose the person she loves, regardless of gender, because all love is natural."

A social media tile created by ROCK for International Women's Day. Above writing in Khmer are various photos from community events run by ROCK.

Credit: Rainbow Community Kampuchea

Fiji

IWD activities in Fiji kicked off with Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) fifth annual ‘If Women Stop, The World Stops’ concert. The concert, held at Ratu Sukuna Park in Suva, brought together hundreds of activists and women human rights defenders alongside representatives of civil society and non-government organisations. Now a flagship event for FWRM, the concert is a symbolic strike action that highlights the unpaid care work undertaken by women and the importance of International Women's Day as a time for activism.

With artists taking to the stage throughout the day, the event provided a platform for Fiji activists to call for change, raise awareness of key women’s human rights issues and pay tribute to women human rights defenders.

This was followed by Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre's annual 'Reclaim The Night' march on March 10th in Suva. The march was attended by IWDA partners FWRM and femLINKPacific and was a strong show of support for women’s rights and freedom, with demands for safe streets, safe policing and safe nightclubs being some of the many chants echoing through the streets of Suva.

A social media tile created by femLINKpacific featuring messages from community members on the importance of International Women's Day.

Credit: femLINKpacific

A woman is holding a newspaper as she reads articles written by femLINKpacific for International Women's Day.

Credit: femLINKpacific

In addition to attending the concert and march, femLINKPacific kicked off their celebrations with a social media campaign centred on sharing solidarity messages from community members on the significance of IWD to them. Each note ended with beautiful messages of empowerment and encouragement to women and young girls in Fiji.

Their celebrations also included a number of exciting media initiatives, from penning powerful articles for The Fiji Times and The Fiji Sun, to launching their new four-part podcast series bringing together the voices of women from across Fijian society. The first episode explored the theme of this year's Internatinoal Women's Day and its call to eliminate the systemic barriers and biases that impede women’s equality across all sectors of society. Watch Part 1 of the series on femLINKpacific's Facebook page.

Samoa

In Samoa, Brown Girl Woke (BGW) hosted the country's first-ever Ballroom Ball. Held on International Women's Day, the event was all about creating a safe space for visibility, self-expression and resilience, with the strength and beauty of all women - regardless of their gender identity or expression - being celebrated throughout the night.

In the lead-up to the Ball, BGW also ran a three-day workshop where participants were given the opportunity to learn about the art and history of ballroom culture and the deep significance behind the moves taught to them. On the last day of the workshop, they were joined by Moemoana Schwenke, Miss Pacific Islands and Miss Samoa, who shared these words of encouragement:

"You’re not only going to inspire our community, but everyone who has ever felt like they weren’t enough. You show them that they can be themselves. That we can express ourselves however we want."

Head to Brown Girl Woke's social media pages to learn more about the workshop and hear from Nu - a workshop participant - on how ballroom gave them the freedom to truly be themselves, watch scenes from the night itself and read BGW's heartfelt tribute to the force behind the event, Mother Ella.

A poster advertising Brown Girl Woke's Ballroom Ball.

Credit: Brown Girl Woke

A poster advertising Brown Girl Woke's Ballroom Workshops.

Credit:Ella Ganza

Solomon Islands

Over in Solomon Islands, Women's Rights Action Movement (WRAM) took part in a three-day International Women's Day Program where they ran a session on the incredible work they have been doing to secure Temporary Special Measures in Solomon Islands.

Across the three days, they also ran a booth showcasing more of their powerful work to empower and create change for women in Solomon Islands.

You can watch WRAM's Bezel Aonima and the Women's Development Division of the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children, and Family Affairs' session on the Temporary Special Measures through their social media channel and learn more about their campaign to improve women’s political representation in the country via our YouTube channel.

Credit: Regina Lepping

Credit: Regina Lepping

Timor-Leste

People are gathered in a room for CCC's awareness-raising session. A woman is standing at a desk set up in front of the room as she addresses the crowd through a microphone.

Credit: Covalima Community Centre

People are gathered in a room for CCC's awareness-raising session. A person is standing at a desk set up in front of the room as they address the crowd through a microphone.

Credit: Covalima Community Centre

People are gathered in a room for CCC's awareness-raising session.

Credit: Covalima Community Centre

This year, Covalima Community Centre (CCC) chose to mark IWD in the Fatumea Administrative Post with an event designed to raise awareness of domestic violence and human trafficking in the community, including the importance of reporting these cases to authorities.

As Hilaria Amaral do Carmo, CCC's Program Manager for Rural Women's Development, explains:

"We prioritised Fatumea Administrative Post for this program because our observations indicate that many women in Fatumea have been victims of violence but never report these cases at the municipal level. That is why we encourage the community to learn how to report cases at the municipal level and gain access to their rights. They should be able to claim their rights, and this is what we aim to promote in Fatumea, especially since it is a border area near Atambua, Indonesia."

Attended by over 200 participants from three villges in Fatumea, the event was a resounding success, with Vitorina de Jesus Cardoso, a local women's leader in Fatumea, sharing:

"This initiative allows us to share information with our fellow women in villages so that they gain better knowledge about gender-based violence. Many women face violence but do not know how to express their concerns. However, through this International Women’s Day celebration, we are now able to raise awareness among women so that they understand how to report cases."

Vanuatu

On March 8th, Sista was invited by the Alliance Francaise in Port Vila to take part their International Women's Day celebrations at the Fondation Suzanne Bastien gallery.

From amazing artwork to empowering speeches and music, the evening was also an opportunity to fundraise and stand in solidarity with Juliette Pitta, an iconic artist in the country currently facing pressing health issues.

Sista’s Program Manager, Project Officer and Communications Coordinator set up a booth to showcase the various projects their organisation have been invovled in over the years with powerhouse ni-Vanuatu women and to shine a light on their social media campaign #AccelerateActionThroughCooperation.

Papua New Guinea

For their IWD celebrations, Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation (NCfR) shined a light on the important role man can play in addressing gender-based violence in the Buin community of Bougainville through the opening of a new Men's Hub. NCfR opened their first Men's Hub in 2015 as a space for their male advocacy program to grow as they worked to better engage men and boys in building non-violent communities.

The opening of this hub has been the dream of local police officer and NCfR counsellor Lawrence since 2016. Now a reality, this new men's counselling hub will provide a safe, supportive space where men in the Buin community can break free from cycles of violence, seek help, and begin to heal.

Signs displayed at the opening of Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation's new Men's Hub.

Getting to see feminists across Asia and the Pacific come together in this way to amplify the voices of women and girls in their communities is undoubtedly inspiring. March 8th has always been an important time for feminists, women’s rights activists and grassroots movements across the world to join voices and advocate for a more just and gender equal world. It is a day that has revolution at its core – one that every year should prompt us to reimagine the structures of our world and how they could be rebuilt for the better.

Rather than finding ways to incorporate women into structures that were never built to include us, our partners work is transforming this system and demanding better for women and girls in Asia and the Pacific – not just on International Women’s Day but every single day of the year.

Gender and Development for Cambodia, Fiji Women’s Right Movement and Covalima Community Centre receive support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).