Women’s empowerment can be defined to promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others.

It is closely aligned with female empowerment – a fundamental human right that’s also key to achieving a more peaceful, prosperous world.

In Western countries, female empowerment is often associated with specific phases of the women’s rights movement in history. This movement tends to be split into three waves, the first beginning in the 19^th and early 20^th century where suffrage was a key feature. The second wave of the 1960s included the sexual revolution and the role of women in society. Third wave feminism is often seen as beginning in the 1990s.

Women’s empowerment and promoting women’s rights have emerged as a part of a major global movement and is continuing to break new ground in recent years. Days like International Women’s Empowerment Day are also gaining momentum.

But despite a great deal of progress, women and girls continue to face discrimination and violence in every part of the world.

source World Vision

• Create laws and enforce existing laws that protect women from discrimination and violence, including rape, beatings, verbal abuse, mutilation, torture, “honor” killings and trafficking.
• Educate community members on their responsibilities under international and national human rights laws.
• Promote the peaceful resolution of disputes by including the perspectives of women and girls.
• Strengthen women’s ability to earn money and support their households by providing skills training for women.
• Sensitize the public to the disadvantages of early and forced child marriages.
• Highlight the value of girls’ education and of women’s participation in economic development.
• Encourage women to participate in the political process and educate the public about the value of women’s votes.
• Raise public awareness of the poor conditions some women face, particularly in rural areas.   Source
  Young African Leaders Initiative

“Discrimination is a violation of human rights and must not go unchallenged,”

“Everyone has the right to live with respect and dignity.”

This year’s theme Open Up, Reach Out encourages all members of the international community to unite under the banner of diversity and celebrate each other’s difference in an authoritative rejection of discrimination in all its forms.

At the same time, Zero Discrimination Day, observed annually on 1 March, draws attention to the millions who still suffer from social and economic exclusion due to prejudice and intolerance. Millions of women and girls in every region of the world, for instance, experience violence and abuse on a daily basis and struggle to access adequate health care and education.

Meanwhile, globally, there are almost 80 countries that still have laws criminalizing same-sex sexual relations while some 38 countries, territories and areas impose some form of restriction on the entry, stay and residence of people living with HIV. Furthermore, legal and social environments are still failing to address stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and those most vulnerable to HIV infection.

Source United Nation

• Set goals. When you set a goal, you make a decision to act in a way that will help you achieve what you want. Goals give you a direction to focus on – one that’s measurable and has an endpoint. This can help you to stay motivated.
• Choose goals that interest you. You’re much more likely to stay motivated if you’re working towards something that you genuinely want to do or achieve, rather than what other people want for you.
• Find things that interest you within goals that don’t. Sometimes other people set goals or tasks for us that we don’t find interesting or want to do. So, try and find something within that task that does motivate you. For example: ‘I find maths challenging, but it’s going to help me become a builder, which I want more than anything.’
• Make your goal public. If you tell someone – or write down – your goal, you’ve essentially made a promise to keep your word.
• Plot your progress. When you’re working towards something, it can be really motivating if you can see evidence that you’re making progress. Draw or create a visual representation of how you’re coming closer to achieving the goal you’ve set yourself.
• Break up your goal. Start with easier tasks and work your way up to bigger challenges. Breaking up a task in your mind into achievable chunks helps build confidence.
• Use rewards. Promise yourself some sort of reward each time you complete a step/task.
• Don’t do it alone. Join a group, or find a partner or someone you can share the experience with. Other people’s encouragement to keep going can be a big boost to your motivation, particularly when you’re doing it tough.   source REACH OUT.com