About the International Women's Day website

A platform built for purpose

More than a quarter of a century ago, when International Women’s Day (IWD) had far less digital visibility and lower levels of participation, an independent platform was created with a clear and ambitious purpose:

To re-energize the day founded in 1911, encourage participation, and help people and groups everywhere turn support for gender equality into action.

That purpose has remained consistent.

For more than 25 years, the IWD website has supported, connected and amplified people, organizations, communities and nonprofits contributing to the broader movement for gender equality. It is an independently operated platform that supports participation and activity, and is not affiliated with or representative of any single organization, government or institution, and does not claim ownership of the global day or movement.

When the website launched, the digital world looked very different. With none of the social media platforms or digital infrastructure that exist today, promoting and discovering IWD activity was far more difficult. The IWD website became one of the platforms helping to build connections, expand visibility and strengthen participation around IWD.

Its value is not only what happens on the platform, but what happens because the platform exists.
 

Creating value through enabling others

The value of the IWD website lies in what it enables others to achieve.

It provides information, resources, visibility and connections that support people and organizations to participate in IWD and advance gender equality.

It offers free guidance, toolkits, campaign resources, educational content and practical tools, while helping people discover and promote events, find speakers and women-owned suppliers, access creative resources, support nonprofits and participate in campaigns.

It highlights the work and impact of organizations, gives event organizers opportunities to promote their work, helps speakers and suppliers reach new audiences, provides nonprofits with opportunities for visibility and support, and gives organizations, communities, groups and individuals working to advance gender equality somewhere to share what they are doing and inspire others to act.

That is the platform’s purpose: supporting participation and collective action.

Purpose-built for participation

The IWD website has always been built around a purpose: to create opportunities for others to participate, connect, communicate and take action.

It provides opportunities for others to gain visibility. It directs attention, creates connections, and helps others reach audiences, promote fundraising initiatives, fill events, find speakers and communicate their work.

Over more than two decades, the platform has continued to evolve in breadth, reach and capability, alongside the continuing evolution of the wider IWD ecosystem.

Making action visible

The IWD website provides a dedicated place where activity around IWD can be discovered, shared and connected.

One organization doing meaningful work can inspire another. One event can inspire another. One campaign can inspire another. One story can spark another action.

That is the value of a platform built around collective participation.

The IWD website supports the supporters, making it easier for people and organizations who want to contribute to gender equality to participate, connect, communicate and take action.
 

A supporting role within a global ecosystem

International days can provide focal points around which awareness, participation and collective action can develop.

March 8 has become a significant global rallying point for gender equality advocacy. Its reach and relevance are shaped by the collective efforts of people, organizations, communities, businesses, charities, campaigns and events around the world.

The IWD website has sought to play a supporting role within this wider ecosystem by providing visibility, participation and a place where activity around IWD can be discovered and shared. Its role is to help create more opportunities for participation — connecting people with events, organizations, campaigns, resources, speakers, suppliers and ideas, and helping make activity visible to wider audiences.

Today, the website connects people around the world with the wider ecosystem of IWD activity. Its value is reflected in what it enables: events promoted, organizations and campaigns amplified, groups advancing gender equality spotlighted, audiences connected with speakers and suppliers, nonprofits supported, and people given resources and tools that help turn interest into action.

IWD is a global day with many participants, perspectives and activities, and there is value in creating more opportunities for people to take part.
 

A long history and an evolving future

Established in 2001, the IWD website has grown through a period of significant change in the way the world connects and participates in IWD, alongside the continuing evolution of the global IWD ecosystem.

An independent platform started small, continued building, continued delivering and grew alongside IWD to provide a digital platform through which people around the world can discover, participate in and contribute to activity around IWD. It kept opening doors for others, putting the spotlight on action, creating opportunities for participation and building relevance year after year.

That history is also what creates the platform's considerable potential for the future, as the work is not finished.

The need for collective action on gender equality remains, as does the value of places that bring people, organizations, ideas and action together.

The opportunity now is to build on everything that has already been created.

Imagine more organizations participating.

More people discovering what others are doing.

More stories travelling further.

More nonprofits benefiting.

More women's achievements recognized and shared.

More allies becoming advocates.

More action becoming visible.

And more visible action inspiring still more action.

The next chapter is an opportunity to build on everything that has been created and give IWD an even bigger future.

Because the most inspiring part of the IWD journey may not be what has already been achieved, but what becomes possible when everyone who believes in IWD joins the journey.