Well today is March 8th, a day internationally chosen to represent women. The event in fact dates back to 1909 and has been adopted globally as a day to recognise the input and advancement that women have been responsible for.

Originally called “International working women’s day“, the occasion has garnered more interest year on year and is now used around the world as a focal point for women’s issues. The United Nations began celebrating in International Women’s Day in the International Women’s Year, 1975. In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for women’s rights and world peace. Each year the UN suggests a focus for the event.

UN Secretarary-General Antonio Guterres

The theme for International Women’s Day 2017 is “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”.

In a message in support of International Women’s Day, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres commented on how women’s rights were being “reduced, restricted and reversed”. With men still in leadership positions and a widening economic gender gap, he called for change “by empowering women at all levels, enabling their voices to be heard and giving them control over their own lives and over the future of our world”

The powers that be at the IMF recently put together this infographic illustrating the value to the workplace of empowering women: