Aurat March held across Pakistan to mark International Women's Day.

25 years ago, world leaders promised to empower girls and women and work toward ending discrimination following a landmark gender equality meeting in Beijing.

But equality remains a long way off, with millions of girls and women's lives still scarred by discrimination, poverty and violence.

Campaigners for gender equality marked International Women's Day on Sunday with protests, discussion panels and walkouts as well as celebrations scheduled across the globe.

Theme for 2020: Equality

'An equal world is an enabled world.'

The theme, I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights, is aligned with United Nation Women's new multi-generational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere.

'The emerging global consensus is that despite some progress, real change has been agonizingly slow for the majority of women and girls in the world,' reads a statement by the UN. 'Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality.'

'Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and in culture. Women and girls continue to be undervalued; they work more and earn less and have fewer choices; and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces,' it noted 'Furthermore, there is a significant threat of rollback of hard-won feminist gains.'

UN says the year 2020 represents an unmissable opportunity to mobilize global action to achieve gender equality and human rights of all women and girls.

Aurat March

In Pakistan, women together with the transgender community, non-binary folks and men took to the streets to mark the day in a country-wide event known as the Aurat March.

Organised by a diverse group of individuals across class, sexuality and ability, the march hopes to collectively raise voices and engage in political action for issues affecting them and their communities in a public rally.

Organisers also include various rights activists, with the aim of highlighting the plight of women and other gender minorities and raise a voice against the pressing issues of gender-based violence targeting the most oppressed and vulnerable in society.

The country saw its first Aurat March three years ago in Karachi. In 2019, the march was extended to cities including Lahore, Multan and Hyderabad among others. This year, the Aurat March will be held on...