Many women in China will have a half-day off of work in honor of IWD, and some employers even shower their female employees with gifts, according to CNN. In Indonesia, one local organizer is sharing a song she wrote called Lebih dari Berlian, or More than a Diamond, which celebrates Indonesian women. The idea is to have young students learn the song, and sing it together every March 8 and April 21, the date of Indonesia’s Women’s Day.
In Fiji, women’s rights organizations are bringing together young girls to talk about the importance of strong female characters in popular culture and fiction. The University of Canterbury in New Zealand, meanwhile, will host a breadth of panel discussions, open to the public, on women in the media, politics, and business to honor the date.
Progress Watch:
+ According to UN Women, nearly 20 countries and territories in the region have passed laws prohibiting domestic violence.
– More than 80 percent of women in Asia Pacific are employed in “vulnerable jobs,” like unregulated, home-based work, and the UN estimates this can cost the region close to $89 billion annually.
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