This year, Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) has big plans for International Women’s Day (IWD), which has been marked on March 8th every year since its establishment in 1911. Originally known as International Working Women’s Day, IWD is an opportunity for different nations to express their love for women and their appreciation for women’s economic, political and social achievements.

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, founder of WFWP

“For International Women’s Day, it’s important we recognize that women from around the world need to empower each other so we can all maximize our potential and harness our divine value as God’s daughters,” said Angelika Selle, president of WFWP USA.

WFWP was founded in 1992 by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of Unification Church founder Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, and is a dynamic organization committed to providing women the opportunity to create lasting peace in the world.

“Enlightened women are the center of love, peace and service that preserve the family… The starting point of world peace lies with the mothers at the center of families – families that perfect and bring fruition of God’s true love,” said Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon in 2002 at the WFWP 10th Anniversary National Assembly in Washington D.C.

With more than 35 state- and city chapters, WFWP USA will be coordinating various events across the United Sates in the month of March.

On March 1, 2012, WFWP in Ohio will participate in a Women’s Empowerment Fair and art exhibition at Columbus State Community College. Columbus State will celebrate Women's History Month with events honoring distinguished women from the past and present and give awards to outstanding woman student leaders at the Columbus State Conference Center. Columbus State will also work with the Columbus Museum of Art for a month-long series on Artemisia Gentileschi, a female Italian Baroque painter.

Sarah Canak, a member of the WFWP chapter in Reno

In Reno, Nevada on March 8, 2012, second-generation Unificationist Sarah Canak, a junior at the University of Nevada Reno and WFWP Club Campus President in Reno, will help organize the Annual International Women’s Day Scholarship Fundraiser, hosted by the Zonta Club of Greater Reno, a club that consists of professional women who work to advance the status of women worldwide. This event will celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day at the Atlantis Casino Resort Grand Ballroom and will feature women speakers from the Northern Nevada International Center. Proceeds will be used to fund women's scholarships at local colleges.

Angelika Selle, President of WFWP USA

In Clifton, New Jersey, WFWP will be holding a “Bridge of Peace” event which will focus on the reconciliation of African- and African-American women on March 10, 2012 to celebrate women’s history and to commemorate Black History month. On the same day in Las Vegas, Pam Stein, a 40-year member of the Unification Church and the leader of WFWP’s Las Vegas chapter, will be holding an educational program on sex trafficking in Las Vegas.

Rev. In Jin Moon giving a keynote speech during WFWP 18th Anniversary National Assembly in 2011

An award ceremony to honor women past and present for their exemplary work will take place on March 17-18, 2012 in the South Side Community Art Center in Chicago, Illinois. Selle will be the keynote speaker.

The WFWP chapters in Arizona will be preparing a marriage seminar with Sandra Lowen, one of the pioneers of the Unification Movement in the United States and a professional counselor and trauma therapist. In line with WFWP’s stress on the importance of women’s roles in families, the seminar will focus on strengthening and empowering couples so that they can take care of their families.

Rev. In Jin Moon, president of the Unification Church USA and CEO of the Manhattan Center said at the WFWP 19th Anniversary National Assembly in 2011, “It is clear that woman have a very important role to play. We must have a voice, a presence in different areas of life, not just in the context of a family but in the context of a society, and in politics, religion, and economics as well.”

Contributed by Emily Cornier.