Happy International Women’s Day! March 8th is celebrated worldwide to recognize the role of women in making the world a better place. Today, we celebrate you, the IUSSW women community members: you, the student, the staff member, the faculty, the administrator, the mother, grandmother, daughter, aunt, and friend.

This year’s theme = #InspireInclusion

‘Inspire inclusion encourages everyone to recognize the unique perspectives and contributions of women from all walks of life, including those from marginalized communities.’  – InternationalWomensDay.com

As you celebrate this day, I invite you to take a moment to recognize our international women students, scholars, teachers, and staff members who traveled nation-state borders leaving behind their families to make our IUSSW a global learning community – A community where our differences are embraced; where our Indian, Ghanian, Ethiopian, Nigerian, Zimbabwean, Indonesian, South Korean, Bolivian, Mexican, Columbian, Argentinian, Mexican, Romanian, Brazilian grandmothers’ stories are retold, shaping each other’s international mindedness and collective consciousness to find ways to work towards preserving, respecting, protecting and celebrating women’s rights and human rights for all.

On this special day, I would like to shine a spotlight on the UN’s 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which is “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.”

Dr. Carmen Luca Sugarawa