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Senate Recognizes International Women’s Day

On March 3, the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a resolution supporting International Women’s Day (S. Res. 90).

Sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

  • There are more than 3.3 billion women in the world today;
  • Women around the world participate in the political, social, and economic life of their communities, play a critical role in providing and caring for their families, contribute substantially to the growth of economies, and, as both farmers and caregivers, play an important role in advancing food security for their communities;
  • The ability of women to realize their full potential is critical to the ability of a nation to achieve strong and lasting economic growth and political and social stability;
  • Despite some achievements made by individual women leaders, women around the globe are still vastly underrepresented in high level positions and in national and local legislatures and governments and, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women account for only 19.2 percent of national parliamentarians;
  • Although strides have been made in recent decades, women around the world continue to face significant obstacles in all aspects of their lives, including denial of basic human rights, discrimination, and gender-based violence;
  • March 8 is recognized each year as International Women’s Day, a global day to celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future and a day to recognize the obstacles that women still face in the struggle for equal rights and opportunities; and
  • The milestone 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day is a testament to the dedication and determination of women and men around the world to address gender inequality.

The resolution “reaffirms its commitment to ending discrimination and violence against women and girls, to ensuring the safety and welfare of women and girls, and to pursuing policies that guarantee the basic human rights of women and girls worldwide” and “honors the women in the United States and around the world who have worked throughout history to ensure that women are guaranteed equality and basic human rights.”