In honour of International Women’s Day, here are 5 exceptional women you should know

The International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day in which the world comes together to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality. The day also calls for everyone to work towards ending gender inequality and the theme is #BeBoldForChange.

The month of March is also the #Women’sHistoryMonth.

In celebration of today, here are 5 exceptional women who are breaking grounds to ensure that equal rights are assigned to all genders and making history for womankind.

Via Wikipedia

1. Malala Yousafzai: Malala is a 19 years old Pakistani international activist who fights vigorously for female education and gender equality. She is also the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. Malala started her activism at a very young age in her native town of Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. On the 9th of October, 2012, when Malala was just 14 years old, she was almost assassinated and shot by a Taliban gunman for her activism and advocacy activities. The incident sparked international support for her and she has since then been able to help more girls and women get access to education and better living conditions. She has many awards and accolades to her name and she remains a strong force and model for everyone. 
   

   Via Indiewire

2. Zuriel Oduwole: She is a 14 year old Nigerian-Mauritian female education advocate and film maker who has been fighting for the rights of African girls to education since she was 10 and has met with and interviewed over 24 world leaders. Zuriel became the world’s youngest filmmaker to have a self-produced and self-edited work after her documentary, A Promising Africa, was screened in over 3 countries In 2014 when she was just 12 years old. Her advocacy has made her the youngest person to be profiled by Forbes and to also meet formally with a US secretary. She has also appeared in popular television stations including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, BBC and CNN. In 2013, Oduwole was listed in the New African Magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential People in Africa.
   

   Via chimamanda

3. Chimamanda Adichie: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an award winning Nigerian author and writer who is known for her books, Half of a yellow Sun, The thing around your Neck, Purple Hibiscus and her support for feminism and gender equality.  Through her fight for feminism and women’s rights, Chimamanda had influenced many people both home and abroad to treat everyone equally and to join the cause for gender parity. She gave the famous “We should all be feminists” Tedx talk which has been commended and featured on Beyonce’s grammy nominated song song ‘Flawless’ which got nominated for Grammy. 
   

   Via NASA

4. Katherine Johnson: Katherine Johnson is an African-American physicist and mathematician who made contributions to the United States’ aeronautics and space programs by being a “computer” (she was that good) and then later through the early application of digital electronic computers at NASA. She was one of the very few African-American women allowed to work with NASA and space shuttle program back then, she was known for her accuracy in computerized celestial navigation, she conducted technical work for decades and calculations were critical to the success of most of the history making missions. Johnson also did calculations for plans for a mission to Mars. Katherine wasn’t  acknowledged for her contributions initially but that has changed and now she is the recipient of the highest civilian award of the United State; the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The movie “Hidden Figures” was based on her true life story and work at NASA. 
   

   Via mansion

5. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made history as the first ever African female president, she is the 24th and current President of Liberia. Sirleaf alongside Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen were  jointly awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peacebuilding work.”  Forbes listed her as the 83rd most powerful woman in the world in 2016. Also in 2016, Sirleaf became the first ever female Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

We hope these women serve as inspiration and motivation to continue the good fight of gender equality for all and advancement of women rights and education. Happy International Women’s Day Flexxer.