International Women's Day was first observed 100 years ago in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland when women went out in the streets to protest against poor working conditions, low pay and male oppression.
In a number of Eastern European, African, Asian and Southeast Asian countries it has long been a public holiday. In Romania, it's customary for children to give a gift to their mothers and grandmothers; in Italy, Russia and Albania, men present their wives with yellow mimosas. In India and Pakistan it is widely celebrated. In some countries it's an excuse for a colorful parade or an all-female social get-together.
For many women, however - and especially those in the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) Region - International Women's Days have passed virtually unnoticed. The feminist struggle isn't a cause that has been widely adopted in the Arab world where women and girls have been bound by customs and traditions to varying degrees and whose careers have been stifled by a glass ceiling.
For instance, when asked what they want to be when they grow up, few Arab women would answer "a president or prime minister" because they instinctively know that such leadership positions are out of their reach. But the Arab region is no monolith. In Lebanon, Egypt and Syria - and, to a lesser extent, in GCC countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - there are women ministers, politicians, captains of industry, board members, executives, doctors and editors.
At the same time, Western stereotypes of the poor, downtrodden Arab woman are not accurate. European politicians have painted the hijab and the burqa as symbols of male oppression which isn't true, although there are exceptions. Those who wear those garments do so willingly either as a statement of religiously-inspired modesty or to fend off unwelcome attention. They say being covered is freeing.
As American neoconservatives discovered in Afghanistan, women's emancipation (for want of a better word) cannot be imposed. Passing laws is only the first step; change has to be demanded by the women themselves and then implemented gradually so as to give time for a sea change in societal attitudes.
Within their homes, many Arab women are a force to be reckoned with. I've lived all over the region for decades and I can honestly say that the greatest ambition of the majority of university-educated young girls I've spoken with is to be good wives and mothers, important roles that have become under-valued in the West. But that was yesterday.
There is no doubt that there is a new wind of change throughout the Arab region brought about by higher-education, satellite television, Blackberries and I-Pods as well as Internet social-networking sites that have all conspired to shrink our global village; interaction with their sisters in the West have nurtured young women's aspirations. They have seen with their own eyes that dreams can become reality.
They want to prove themselves in the workplace, they want to be respected, not only as members of the nurturing fairer sex but also as human beings in their own right, and they want to be in a position to provide for their children in case of divorce or the death of their spouse.
At a time of global financial instability, high inflation and burgeoning food prices encouraging women to pursue useful careers enabling them to contribute to the family budget can help eradicate poverty, increase production, and boost the fiscal purse. And, as we have witnessed during the popular revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of women of all ages from all walks of life and with disparate religious beliefs joined their male counterparts to battle oppression and corruption, they want a say in their country's political future. They want their voices to be heard.
Today, in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where a Million Woman March is due to be held, they will be heard. Female activists rightly point out that while women were just as instrumental as men in freeing Egypt from an autocratic dictator responsible for the systematic fleecing of state coffers. They camped out in the square, distributed food and water, tended to the injured, spoke eloquently to the media and risked their lives. Just as important are the wives and mothers who stayed at home in the knowledge that they might never see their husbands or children again. In Cairo, up to 25 percent of protesters were female and in Egypt's second city Alexandria an estimated 40 percent were women. One of their number Sally Zahran a 23-year-old graduate was bludgeoned to death by pro-Mubarak thugs.
Yet, their efforts have not been recognized by prime ministers appointed by the caretaker Supreme Military Council. Neither Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq nor the newly-appointed PM Essam Sharaf has seen fit to offer women senior Cabinet positions. According to the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, feminists are angry over an article in the newly-revised constitution that states no Egyptian is eligible to become president if he is married to a non-Egyptian woman as this implies that all future presidents will be male. They emphasize women's participation in stages of the democratic transition and the forming of the new Egyptian state "without discrimination on the basis of gender, religion or geographical diversity."
There is no denying that women in the Arab world have come a long way since the 1970s when I toured the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf where in those days most cafes and restaurants were men-only, illiteracy rates among women were unacceptably high and sons were valued over daughters. It's certainly comforting that leaders of traditionally conservative Arab states - notably King Abdallah of Jordan, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, emir of Qatar and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - are leading the charge for change by encouraging their wives to adopt a high public profile.
Arab women are poised to break their shackles like Britain's Emmeline Pankhurst who in 1898 founded The Women's Social and Political Union dedicated to deeds and not words. She and her comrades were demonized, incarcerated and force-fed. They chained themselves to the railings outside the prime minister's residence; one threw herself in front of the king's racehorse. Their movement was as unstoppable as the tsunami shaking the Middle East today. And just as King Canute failed to hold back the waves so too will those who resist evolutionary change. The choice is theirs; embrace the inevitable or be swept away on yesterday's tide.