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̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� has joined forces with Cambridge City Council and Anglia Ruskin ̽��ֱ�� to run a fortnight of events in partnership with various local organisations and community groups, including Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre, Women’s Aid and MENTER, to celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day on the 8 March.

̽��ֱ��programme began on the 27 February and will run to the 17 March, with the ̽��ֱ��’s first IWD lecture taking place at 5.15pm this evening at Emmanuel College, where Professor Nadje Al-Ali from the School of African and Oriental Studies will speak on the struggles of women in Iraq. A founder member of the organisation Act Together: Women’s Action for Iraq, Professor Al-Ali is the author of several publications reflecting the lives and experiences of Iraqi women. Tickets are free and can be obtained by emailing equality@admin.cam.ac.uk.

On the centenary tomorrow there will be an event at the Central Library entitled ̽��ֱ��Voices of Women: Past, Present and Future. Beginning at midday, speakers will include Antoinette Jackson, Chief Executive of the City Council, and Professor Dame Athene Donald, the ̽��ֱ��’s Gender Equality Champion and Professor of Experimental Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory. ̽��ֱ��event also includes music, exhibitions, theatrical performances and readings from local slam-poet Holly McNish.

“We are so pleased to be working in partnership with local organisations to deliver this impressive programme for the centenary celebrations,” said Sigrid Fisher, Head of the ̽��ֱ��’s Equality and Diversity section. “We hope everyone will enjoy and support the events.”

Other highlights include a festival of documentary films about women on the 12 March and the annual WiSETI lecture at Robinson College on the 16 March, where acclaimed scientist and novelist Professor Sunetra Gupta from the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford will discuss her experiences in science and literature.

̽��ֱ��first International Women’s Day was officially honoured in 1911, when more than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote and hold public office. This year, thousands of people are expected to attend events taking place on landmark bridges around the world, from the Millennium Bridge in London to the Grand Barriere Bridge joining Rwanda and Congo, to show global solidarity for women’s causes and celebrate women’s achievements.

For more information on the IWD centenary celebrations in Cambridge visit:
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