In 1869 British MP John Stuart Mill was the first person in Parliament to call for women’s right to vote. On 19 September 1893 New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the right to vote. Women in other countries did not enjoy this equality and campaigned for justice for many years.

In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named Clara Zetkin (Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day – a Women’s Day – to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin’s suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women’s Day was the result.

The very first International Women’s Day was launched the following year by Clara Zetkin on 19 March (not 8 March). The date was chosen because on 19 March in the year of the 1848 revolution, the Prussian king recognized for the first time the strength of the armed people and gave way before the threat of a proletarian uprising. Among the many promise he made, which he later failed to keep, was the introduction of votes for women.

Plans for the first International Women’s Day demonstration were spread by word of mouth and in the press. During the week before International Women’s Day two journals appeared: The Vote for Women in Germany and Women’s Day in Austria. Various articles were devoted to International Women’s Day: ‘Women and Parliament’, ‘The Working Women and Municipal Affairs’, ‘What Has the Housewife got to do with Politics?’, etc. The articles thoroughly analyzed the question of the equality of women in the government and in society. All articles emphasized the same point that it was absolutely necessary to make parliament more democratic by extending the franchise to women.

Success of the first International Women’s Day in 1911 exceeded all expectation.

Meetings were organized everywhere in small towns and even the villages halls were packed so full that male workers were asked to give up their places for women.

Men stayed at home with their children for a change, and their wives, the captive housewives, went to meetings.

During the largest street demonstration of 30,000 women, the police decided to remove the demonstrators’ banners so the women workers made a stand. In the scuffle that followed, bloodshed was averted only with the help of the socialist deputies in Parliament.

In 1913 International Women’s Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Wommen’s Day ever since.

During International Women’s Year in 1975, IWD was given official recognition by the United Nations and was taken up by many governments. International Women’s Day is marked by a national holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Source: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/first.asp

Peer helping can take place virtually anywhere. Although elementary and secondary schools are probably the most popular sites for peer helping, peer helping programs and services have been established in universities, colleges, hospitals, clinics, community centres, unions, businesses and corporations.

Peer helping can take place at any age. Peer programs have been established for little kids, teens, young adults and senior citizens.

Peer helping takes many different forms. The term “peer helping” is a generic term which includes activities or titles such as: peer tutoring, peer support, peer facilitation, peer mediation, peer conflict resolution, peer counselling, peer education, peer ministry, peer health workers, peer ambassadors, and peer leaders. The term peer helping is used as an umbrella to include all the types of peer programs mentioned above.

While peer helping can include a variety of approaches, it is different from peer groups and self-help or support groups. Both Peer Resources and the National Peer Helpers Association have independently developed standards that help to identify peer helping. According to Peer Resources, peer helping is typically characterized by the following components:
Peers are self-nominated or selected by members of their peer group(s);
Peers are volunteers, but may receive some type of compensation for their involvement;
The peer volunteers receive need-based, goal-directed and experiential skill training from a qualified peer trainer;
The peer volunteers are supervised on a regular basis; and
The more experience the peers have, the more they are involved in the selection, training, and supervision of other peers.
Some Examples of Peer Helping might include:
Computer users seek out others for help in solving problems
Police officers help other officers deal with trauma
Elementary school students mediate conflicts between other students
Experienced employees show new employees “the ropes”
A friend listens while another friend describes a problem
Students tutor other students
Co-workers help colleagues manage work challenges
Seniors help each other with loneliness and grief
Workers act as peer referral sources for an Employee Family Assistance Program
Executives orient other managers to steps for success
High school students educate others about substance abuse prevention
Experienced parents support new parents
People who have overcome adversity help others to do the same
Hockey players coach other hockey players
Street kids educate other street kids on AIDS prevention
Source: http://www.peer.ca/peerdefinitions.html