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Click to viewThey say when you educate a man, you educate an individual, when you educate a woman, you educate a family (or a nation).
This year's Commonwealth Day theme is, "Women as Agents of Change!"
When we think about this year's theme, we start thinking about women who have inspired us, and other women role models. We start thinking about our mothers, and we start thinking of how they have influenced us. After all, from a sociological viewpoint, our mothers generally socialise us and shape our values from the moment we are born.
When we think of influential women of our time, we also go through a list of the most famous women we know of, women like Marie Curie, Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, Margaret Thatcher, Aung San Suu Kyi, Queen Elizabeth II, Ada Lovelace, and so forth.
However, it is very important to remember what the day will stand for, it's not just about celebrating these famous women, or thinking about the achievements of these women and how they have influenced or shaped lives. It is about EMPOWERING women.
And when I say "empower" I don't mean making women greater than men, but actually understanding the situation that most women in the developing countries are in and helping them to emancipate themselves for a better livelihood and in turn, and creating a better environment for them. In other words, listening to their voices and understanding their NEEDS and how we can help to create better opportunities for them.
We still live in a society that is highly patriarchal, and in most cultures women still have not achieved the same status as men. The 'glass ceiling' is still there, and thus it is important to instil into the minds of people that women should have the same opportunities and rights as men.
By creating awareness, we are providing insight, we are looking at how we can change the mindsets of people and also show young girls that they have the power to change the way society perceives girls and also to have a more confident outlook in their lives.
It is important for these young girls to recognise their value, to recognise the fact that they have the chance to be who they want to be and how they have a role in their community, their society, their country, their nation. The theme is about realising their potential, and how as a community belonging to this world we live in, we should provide each other with the support and respect that each individual deserves.
This March the 14th, 2011, will be a day of awareness. It will be a day to recognise that young women today should have greater opportunities provided to them, and for them to recognise their own inner potential, and most importantly for them to realise that they have the voice and power to change the community they live in.
Furthermore, don't just look at it as a day of change, but as a day for us to start changing the way we look at women and to begin influencing those around us to change their preconceived perceptions. This Monday should not just be focused on Women as Agents of Change! but as the day we start thinking about how we can change the world we live in.
So, how will you change the world?
For further information, please visit Women as Agents of Change!