International Women's Day, held each year on 8 March, is an opportunity to give women worldwide a big cheer. International Women's Day seemed as appropriate a celebration as any other. Think about all the nice things that your mum, girlfriends, aunties, and grandmothers have done for you. All those birthdays remembered, all those friendly ears lent, all those kindly shoulders offered for crying on.

But wait, that makes International Women's Day sound like a glorified Mother's Day. Which it's not. Just to get serious for a moment, it's a day that highlights the fact that in some parts of the world, there are still inequalities between men and women, and in some places women are not even granted the most basic human rights...

• Women worldwide receive 30 - 40% less pay on average.

• Girls in developing countries are over four times as likely as boys to suffer from malnutrition.

• There are 130 million children worldwide who are not in school. Two out of every three of these are girls.

The United Nations General Assembly gave two reasons for holding an International Women's Day:

• To recognize the fact that peace and social progress require the active participation and equality of women.

• To acknowledge the contribution of women to international peace and security.

Worthy causes for holding a special day, then.

Feel free to discuss what this day means to you; tell us all the things that makes being a women a fab state of being; or share any inequalities you've heard about or, indeed, experienced.