International Women’s Day Celebration 2017
On 18th March 2017, BUET WIE Student Branch Affinity Group and WIE Affinity Group, IEEE Bangladesh Section jointly organized ‘International Women’s Day Celebration 2017’ in honour of all women out in the world fighting their way through the society to prove themselves. A total of 20 participants, including 12 female students, had joined the celebration.
“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights,” says world-renowned feminist, journalist and social and political activist Gloria Steinem. Thus International Women’s Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action – whatever that looks like globally at a local level. The definition of womanhood is no more simply bounded to ‘beauty’ and ‘acquiesce’. That’s why “Be bold for change”- was the theme of International Women’s Day 2017.
As a part of the celebration, a motivational session was conducted by Mehnaz Kabir, Group Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, RANGS Group. Mehnaz Kabir started her career at Grameenphone Limited in 2003. She has played significant roles as Head of Internal Communications at Grameenphone Limited in 2010, Head of Communications at Ericsson Bangladesh in 2014 and later as Chief Communications Officer at RanksTel Limited in 2016.
The session started with an inspirational video showing the world’s successful women and their courage and strength to fight major downfalls in their lives. The presented video clip intended to motivate every woman to discover and realize her true potential through a self-question: “What on earth am I here for?” It also highlighted the famous quote by Margaret Thatcher, Former Prime Minister of United Kingdom, “You turn [U-turn] if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.”
Mehnaz Kabir talked about all the challenges and experiences from both her personal and corporate life. She also mentioned that it would never have been possible to reach the pinnacle her career without the utmost support of her family. To ensure women empowerment, the traditional concept and perspective needs to be changed and this change has to be started within ourselves.
Cake Cutting Session
This was followed by a video message featuring the former volunteers and executive members of WIE Affinity Group, IEEE Bangladesh Section . The session ended with a cake cutting ceremony and group photosession to honour International Women’s Day and to express
solidarity with women empowerment. The event was a very successful one as it had attracted male participants as well. This indicates the support of men in empowering and encouraging women. BUET WIE SB AG and WIE AG, IEEE BDS would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to all the participants and the volunteers of BUET WIE SB AG for their tremendous effort.