Norway ready for first post-COVID International Women’s Day celebrations

Many places throughout the country are ready for the first post-COVID celebrations of International Women’s Day. There is some debate about the official theme for the day’s celebrations though.

Abortion rights, peace, and solidarity all key themes

This year’s International Women’s Day will see the first post-COVID celebrations in more than 2 years. In Oslo, this year’s parade is set against a backdrop of the war in Ukraine. The official slogan for this year’s parade is, “Abortion is a woman’s choice – Abolish the committees now!” but many want recognition of the suffering women are experiencing in a war-torn Ukraine.

Rina Mariann Hansen (AP), City Councilor for Work and Integration in Oslo, and Eivor Evenrud, group leader for Rødt’s City Council group, spoke of their desire for a change in theme according to Vårt Oslo. “Peace and solidarity” should be the main slogan on this year’s March 8, so that the war in Ukraine becomes a bigger issue of this year’s celebration,” both wrote in a post.

Proposal rejected, concession for “Peace” slogan made

This proposal, however, was rejected by the March 8 working committee in a post on Sunday. “The main slogan ‘Abortion is a woman’s choice – Abolish the committees now!’ goes first on the march. We will not change this in such a short time before the day itself, for the sake of democracy at the slogan meeting and the topicality of the abortion issue nationally and internationally” wrote Maiken Sætran Lium and Thea Borkhus Gabrielsen, both members of the March 8 working committee.

They have, however, conceded the need for some mention of the war in Ukraine and a banner with the slogan, “Women for peace! Solidarity with Ukraine!” will be displayed further back in the procession.

What is happening nationwide?

The nation is gearing itself up for many celebrations and festivities with turnouts expected to be larger than they have been since 2019 thanks to the end of pandemic infection restrictions. In the nation’s capital, the highlight of the celebrations is a procession, from Youngstorget, through the city. This will take place after a rally and speeches from 6 PM.

In Bergen, March 8 lands right in the middle of the annual Women’s Festival which sees 37 events take place over 11 days. This year’s program includes lectures, stand-up comedy, and even Zumba lessons. The main rally, however, takes place at 5 PM at Torgallmenningen with an official slogan of “Fight for full women’s liberation!”

Further north in Trondheim, celebrations begin at 5 PM with the procession starting at 5:30 PM. The organizers wrote a Facebook post talking of the many battles won, in the fight for gender equality and women’s right, but of the many still to win. They noted that “We still have a long way to go, nationally and internationally, before we can say that we have reached the goal of gender equality. Together, we will contribute to a large and strong celebration of the International Women’s Day here in Trondheim in 2022.”

The Stavanger celebrations also begin at 5 PM and many were happy that a physical event could take place after two years of digital celebrations. The Stavanger committee wrote on Facebook that, “After two years of pandemic and restrictions, we can finally mark International Women’s Day in the traditional way. At the same time, the fight for full equality is far from over. The pandemic has shown us how important female-dominated occupations are for society including nurses, health professionals, teachers, cleaners, kindergarten teachers, shop workers and more.”

Source : © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayTravel

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