For All Women and Girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment
On 8 March 2025, we invite you to commemorate International Women's Day under the theme "For All Women and Girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment." This year's theme emphasises the urgent need for action to secure equal rights, power, and opportunities for all, ensuring that no one is left behind. A significant focus is placed on empowering the next generation — youth, and particularly young women and adolescent girls — as vital agents of enduring change.
The year 2025 also marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive and widely endorsed framework for women's and girls' rights globally, which transformed the women's rights agenda through stronger legal protections, access to essential services, youth engagement, and the alteration of outdated social norms and stereotypes.
We encourage media outlets, corporate leaders, government, community leaders, civil society organisations, and young people, among others with influence, to promote action within their communities. The Organization for Prisoners' Rights urges the Somali Government to prioritise initiatives that advance women's rights and gender equality.
On this occasion, the Chairperson of OPR expressed unwavering support for the resilience, courage, and leadership of Somali women, who serve as the backbone of our society. Through enduring conflict and adversity, they have played a pivotal role in fostering peace, security, and nation-building with remarkable determination. Today, we honour their strength and stand with them in their pursuit of a more equitable and promising future.
How to cite this piece
Organization for Prisoners' Rights. (2025). For All Women and Girls: Rights, Equality, Empowerment — International Women's Day 2025. Mogadishu: OPR. https://opr.org.so/news/international-womens-day-2025/