8 March becomes public holiday in northern and eastern Syria

The International Women’s Struggle Day on 8 March has been established as a public holiday in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria. The necessary amendment to the law is already in force, according to a decree presented on Saturday by the Executive Council of the Self-Government and Legislative Council. This means that 8 March is already a legal women’s day in Rojava as of this year. Women’s organisations in the north-eastern Syrian autonomous region expressed their satisfaction, as this holiday has been demanded for a long time.

International Women’s Day has been promoting equal rights for women and men since 1911. Originally, it took place on 19 March – the choice of this date was intended to emphasise the revolutionary character of Women’s Day, because the day before was the day of remembrance for those who died in the March Revolution of 1848. In the meantime, however, Women’s Day is uniformly celebrated on 8 March. On this day, women all over the world take to the streets to demand their rights. Even though the role of women in society has already changed. There are still global problems with equal rights. The day draws attention to these.

In some countries, 8 March is a public holiday. These include Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Berlin, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Laos, Madagascar, Moldova, Mongolia, North Korea, Nepal, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Belarus. In Germany, this day has also been a public holiday since 2019 – but only in Berlin.