August is South Africa Women's Month 2019

The South African Embassy in Lisbon will join millions of South Africans on 9 August to celebrate Women’s Day as part our country’s Women’s Month. We pay tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women. A system meant to control women even further and reduce women to passive beings, at the mercy of men.

This year’s annual commemoration will be held under the theme: “25 Years of Democracy: Growing South Africa Together for Women’s Emancipation” and coincides with the country’s celebration of 25 Years of Freedom and Democracy. 

The Call-To-Action for this year’s campaign is “What Women Want” born out of the 2019 Women's Month theme and seeks to identify multifaceted issues affecting today’s women from all sectors, race, statures and age. Through this campaign, we want to encourage boldness in women, to state without any fear, what they really want. 

We therefor make a call to all women to share their perspectives on the gains, the gaps, the current struggles of women in this government and boldly state what they would want to see happening in order to realise the agenda of women equality by participating in the #WhatWomenWant campaign. You can participate by voicing out your perspectives on different social media platforms under the hashtag #WhatWomenWant. Upload your contribution by sharing a social media post, a mini video or a sound clip using the #.