The theme for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2018, is “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”.

According to UN Women, echoing the priority theme of the upcoming 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, International Women’s Day will also draw attention to the rights and activism of rural women, who make up over a quarter of the world population, and are being left behind in every measure of development.

International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labor movements at the turn of the twentieth century across North America and Europe.

The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909, which the Socialist Party of America dedicated in honor of the 1908 garment workers' strike in New York where women protested against harsh working conditions.

In 1917, women in Russia chose to protest and strike under the slogan "Bread and Peace" on the last Sunday in February (which fell on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar).

Their movement ultimately led to the enactment of women’s suffrage in Russia.

Since those early years, the growing international women’s movement has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political, social, cultural and economic arenas.

In 1975, the United Nations celebrated its first official International Women's Day on 8 March during International Women’s Year the same year.

Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by the Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.