THOUSANDS of people will gather in Belfast this Saturday to mark International Women’s Day with a major rally calling for solidarity to end human rights abuses against women and girls.
Participants will gather at Writer’s Square at 11.30am, leaving at noon to march along Royal Avenue, with speeches beginning at 12.30pm at City Hall. A celebration of the day will continue in 2 Royal Avenue with stalls, storytelling, yoga and the amazing feminist photo booth.
Belfast's International Women’s Day Rally 2026 will be addressed by former President Mary Robinson, who will speak about this year’s theme, ‘Strength in Solidarity’.
Ahead of her speech, Ms Robinson said: “At a time when women’s rights and gender equality are under pressure in so many parts of the world, International Women’s Day is a time to stand together in solidarity and commitment to these rights. This year I am happy to do so in Belfast.”
Mary Robinson
She will be joined on stage outside Belfast City Hall by Iranian human rights activist Azadeh Sobout; Maggie Ronayne of Global Women’s Strike; Sharon Coyle from Surviving Economic Abuse; artist Deirdre McKenna; and a representative from Youth Action.
Helen Crickard from event organisers Reclaim the Agenda said International Women’s Day is intrinsically linked to the struggle for peace.
Reacting to the crisis in the Middle East, she said: “War destroys lives, communities, infrastructure and the environment, when the need is to build, improve lives and the ecosystem. A booming capitalist, privatised war market guarantees power elites the obscenity of ever-accumulating wealth, condemning the rest of us to ever-increasing inequality, poverty, death and destruction.”
Iranian activist, writer and educator Azadeh Sobout, a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, will use her speech on Saturday to call for democracy for her country.
“I stand before you as an Iranian woman, one who opposes the men who rule my country today, the theocratic regime that answered demands for dignity and freedom with massacre, and the men who ruled it before, a monarchy sustained by foreign intelligence and imperial power.
"We stand for revolutionary hope, a future beyond empire, beyond dictatorship, beyond monarchy."
Organisers are calling for better protection for victims of assault, abuse and paramilitary violence; a more proactive healthcare system that does not diminish women’s pain; and improved access to life-affirming healthcare for the transgender community. They are also urging civic society to move beyond the legacy of the Troubles to prevent young people from repeating past violence.
Sharon Coyle from Surviving Economic Abuse said: “Together, we can save lives and stop economic abuse forever. Strength in Solidarity means standing alongside victim-survivors and recognising that economic abuse thrives in silence but weakens when we act together.”
Maggie Ronayne of Global Women’s Strike added: “As autonomous sectors working together across divides of gender, race, class, nationality, disability and occupation, we are calling for a society that invests in caring, not killing. We know we need each other’s strength to win.”
