Zonta Rose Day celebrates progress of women’s rights
Zonta Rose Day, which coincides with International Women’s Day which falls today, March 8, is a day to reflect on the voluntary service carried out by the members of Zonta empowering and enhancing the status of women worldwide. The Zonta Rose, a single yellow rose serves as the symbol of Zonta Rose Day.
On this day, thousands of events are held by Zonta Clubs worldwide to inspire women and celebrate the progress made to achieve women’s rights and outline future steps to improve women’s equality.
Zonta Club III of Colombo is a member of Zonta International (www.zonta.com), a service organisation of women executives and professionals working together to advance and empower the status of women and children world-wide.
Violence and abuse affect women from all kinds of backgrounds every day. According to a UN Survey on Violence Against Women in Sri Lanka, a woman is raped every 90 minutes. Additionally, as identified by the group Women for Rights, 95% of women who use public transport in Sri Lanka experience sexual harassment. The Zonta Club III of Colombo as part of its ‘No to Violence’ initiative to create awareness of the futility of violence to women and children in Sri-Lanka organised a benefit production of Eve Ensler’s – The Vagina Monologues and also conducted an awareness campaign on VAW in collaboration with the hair and beauty industry of Sri Lanka for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Additionally, to better prepare young Sri Lankan women for success and equality in the corporate sector, the Zonta Club III of Colombo conducted the annual Zonta Women of Tomorrow (ZWOT) Mentorship programme which aims to enhance and hone their employability and professional skills.
Zonta Club III of Colombo notes that great improvements in the enhancement of the status of women have been made over time. The tone and nature of Zonta Rose Day has, for the past few years, shifted from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.
This Rose Day, the Zonta Club III of Colombo will spend time with the elderly women at the Sarvodaya Elders Home for women in Ratmalana. Additionally, the Club will conduct a health camp at the Methsevana state House of Detention for women in Gangodawila. The camp will provide the inmates with general health check-ups which includes their BMI index and a supplementary meal plan.
Zonta Rose Day presents an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality and emancipation. Zonta Club III encourages you to take time to ‘smell the roses’ by embracing the message of Rose Day and appreciate the progress made in enhancing the status of women thus far.
For more information on Zonta Club III, please visit the Club’s Official Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/zontaclub3.