International Women's Day 2012

March 8, 2012 marks the 101st anniversary of International Women's Day. First celebrated on March 19, 1911 by more than one million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland after a proposal by Clara Zetkin [1857-1933] in 1910 at the second International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, International Women's Day is now observed in many nations throughout the world.

The United Nations first began celebrating March 8 as International Women's Day during International Women's Year in 1975, and in 1977 approved a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace for member states.

The UN's theme for International Women's Day 2012 is "Empower Rural Women--End Hunger and Poverty." The video above, produced by UN Women, is entitled, "Columbia: Wayuu Gold, Fighting for Access to Fresh Water," and details the campaign led by Griselda Polanco to obtain a secure water supply for her village. In 2006, Griselda's sister, Orsinia Polanco, was the first indigenous woman elected to the Columbian Congress, and she has worked tirelessly to make access to water a fundamental right for all Columbians, including the Wayuu and other indigenous peoples.