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On day celebrating women, reminder of lingering gender gap

International Women's Day on Tuesday celebrated women and their accomplishments, but it also offered a stark reminder of the gender divides in rights, representation and pay.

The day carried the theme "Pledge for Parity" - a phrase and hashtag born out of the World Economic Forum's recent projection that the progress on achieving global gender parity is slowing.

Google's home page on Tuesday featured a video of women and girls dreaming and doing big things. Twitter and Facebook feeds filled with quotes from inspirational women and calls to action.

But the U.N. cultural agency also offered sobering statistics: More than 63 million girls are excluded from school in more than 200 countries across the world. Almost 16 million girls between the ages of 6 and 11 - compared with about 8 million boys - will never get the chance to learn to read or write in primary school "if current trends continue," according to a report from UNESCO's Institute for Statistics.

Women also account for 70 percent of the world's hungry, the U.N. reported, in part because longstanding discrimination has limited their access to food.

President Barack Obama, a father of two daughters, said in a statement that allowing women and girls around the world to rise and achieve their full potential will mean "a brighter, more peaceful and more prosperous future for us all."

Hillary Clinton, vying to become the country's first woman president, tweeted Tuesday that advancing the status of women and girls will make economies grow and nations more secure.

"It's the right - and smart - thing to do," she wrote.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed empowering women as he spoke of preventable deaths during child birth and those who are subjected to "genital mutilation."

Actress Emma Watson, kicking off a weeklong U.N. arts event aimed at initiating a dialogue about gender, said it's not enough for people to rationally understand the necessity of gender equality.

"It's also about making them feel it in their bones," she said.

Some countries treat the day as a holiday, and women could be seen on a sunny Tuesday in the Romanian capital carrying flowers, the traditional gift. Elsewhere in Bucharest, women brandished a banner saying "March 8 is for fighting."

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for only female lawmakers to address parliament on Tuesday included silence because there weren't enough women to speak. Of the 543 elected members in India's lower house, 12 percent are women.

In China, International Women's Day is treated as a one-off where state media are fond of publishing photo galleries of "Beautiful Women Reporters" covering a ceremonial legislature.

The Communist Party-run People's Daily made no mention of leadership roles in a front-page editorial Tuesday that said women "can not only help to make homes more pleasant and lively, but also contribute their valuable female perspective and efforts to the progress of the entire society."

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Associated Press writers Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Dave Bryan in New York contributed to this report.

Pakistani classical dancer Sheema Kermani , right, performs with her students to celebrate International Women's Day in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) The Associated Press
Women balance their staples on their heads as they make their way through the Croix-des-Bossales market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Tuesday marks International Women's Day, observed annually worldwide on March 8, celebrating women's achievements in all walks of life. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) The Associated Press
A women holds a poster with a message that reads in Spanish, "We are the other half, We want equality, all men , nd all women for the Law of Equality," in front of the National Congress building, during a protest demanding a law for equality in political representation, marking International Women's Day in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz) The Associated Press
A 14 year-old Myanmar girl carries three bags of powdered-limestone to load in to a boat on the bank of Ayeyarwaddy River, on International Women’s Day in Mandalay, Myanmar, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Migrant workers living along Ayeyarwaddy riverbank earn bout 5000 Kyats (US Dollar 4) a day for loading and unloading goods. (AP Photo/Hkun Lat) The Associated Press
Myanmar women unload logs from a boat on the bank of Ayeyarwaddy River, on International Women’s Day in Mandalay, Myanmar, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Migrant workers living along Ayeyarwaddy riverbank earn bout 5000 Kyats (US Dollar 4) a day for loading and unloading goods. (AP Photo/Hkun Lat) The Associated Press
FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2015 file photo, English actress Emma Watson poses for photographers during the photocall for the film, "Regression," in Madrid, Spain. Watson, the UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, and Forest Whitaker, a UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace, joined UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on International Women's Day at The Public Theater in Manhattan. They were there to announce a week of arts events aimed at initiating a dialogue about gender equality. (AP Photo/Abraham Caro Marin, File) The Associated Press
Indian woman Bileswari Deka, 42, carries her three years old daughter Sagarika, sleeping on her back, and collects money from a man as she sells country liquor on the bank of the River Brahmaputra on International Women’s Day in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, March 8, 2016. Deka is still recovering after she suffered severe burn injuries on her left hand in a cooking gas cylinder blast last year. (AP Photo/ Anupam Nath) The Associated Press
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