In 1977, which UN body invited states to proclaim a women's rights day?

In 1977, which UN body invited states to proclaim a women’s rights day? The UN General Assembly did.

The Assembly invited member states to proclaim a day, in keeping with their historical and national traditions, as a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace. The move gave International Women’s Day a formal place in the UN calendar and connected it with both gender equality and world peace.

The UN had already begun observing the occasion in 1975, which it had designated International Women’s Year. The 1977 invitation did not invent the celebration or impose one universal date. Instead, it left the choice to individual countries. March 8 became the overwhelmingly standard date because it was already strongly established through socialist and women’s movements.

A common mix-up is naming UNESCO or the Security Council. Those UN bodies have distinct mandates, but the 1977 invitation came from the General Assembly, the UN’s broad representative deliberative body.