Welcome to the 101st International Women's Day, it's strange that we still need a day just for women, but you don't have to look far to find out why. Despite how far the women's rights movement has come over the last century, things still aren't there. Even though Women do 66% of the world's work and produce over 50% of the world's food, they still earn only 10% of world's income.
International Women's Day is one of my favourite days in London, there are so many brilliant events from Join Me On The Bridge, to Lynne Franks's afternoon tea to the WIE Symposium. It's a wonderful opportunity to catch up with so many of the women that I admire, and discover the inspiring stories of women that will become new friends.
Today I am doing something totally different and unexpected. I am travelling as far outside my comfort zone as I can imagine. It started two weeks ago, when the phone rang. It was Lynne Parker, the founder of Funny Women. I answered and she said "Are you feeling funny?" I wanted to hang up, when I realised where the call was going...
Every year, Funny Women, the organisation dedicated to helping women find their inner funny, and supporting women comedians on the stand-up circuits, put on a charity challenge, where they get ten women who are not comedians to have a go...in public. This year it is bigger than ever, as Funny Women are celebrating their 10th birthday.
It turned out that one of the women that was meant to be performing had pulled out, and Lynne needed somebody to jump in. I wanted to say no. But the beauty of life is often in saying yes to the things that make you want to hide under your duvet for the rest of time. My work has always been about pushing outside the boundaries of how we normally see or do something, and so I am embracing the opportunity to do this for myself tonight.
I am absolutely terrified, as I have never even spoken to as many people as will be in the room tonight, let alone taken to the stage as an entertainer. Four days ago, I had no idea what I was even going to talk about, tonight I will take to the mic. I will be joining nine other women on stage including Carol Stone, Deb Learing OBE, Rowan Pelling and Charlie Webster.
The real honour in taking part is this, is being able to support a brilliant women's charity in the process. I am fundraising for Womankind Worldwide, who work with women's organisations all over the world. I was drawn to them as they work directly with local groups and organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, supporting them in amplifying their voice and increasing their impact. The work they do it vital in today's world, where one in three women will experience violence in their lives and where it is now more dangerous for a woman in a conflict zone than a soldier.
The impact of their work can be lifechanging. Through supporting the KMG Project in Kembatta, Ethiopia, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been changed from something that most women faced (97%) to something that is now very rare (4%). This change took ten years to achieve, but has been so incredibly important for the women in that town. Over 175,000 girls have been protected against FGM. Now to mark their coming of age, take part in an annual festival 'Whole Life, Whole Body', where the girls play football and take part in a beauty contest, instead of having a painful and dangerous procedure forced upon them. This shows that cultural changes can happen, it just needs time, dedication and resources.
If you are stuck behind your desk today, you can be part of International Women's Day and support Womankind Worldwide by joining in their virtual march, helping to get the message out that the women's movement is a powerful, global force for change.
Support me in my challenge and donate to Womankind Worldwide - www.justgiving.com/Amisha-G