How the world celebrated International Women's Day

In Paris, an edit-a-thon invited people to create, edit or translate Wikipedia pages about women who have played a key role or who still contribute in the fields of education, science, culture and communication.

Only 17 per cent of biographies published on Wikipedia are about women, according to the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO, which organized the event.

Toymaker Mattel, whose Barbie dolls have in the past drawn criticism for promoting harmful stereotypes, said it hoped the Adams doll would inspire girls to achieve greatness.

Other women role models getting the Barbie treatment include U.S. Olympic snowboarding star Chloe Kim.

Also challenging stereotypes was Little Miss Inventor, a new character in the Mr. Men and Little Miss children's book series, who made her debut on Thursday.

Around the world, over 60 stock exchanges — up from 43 last year — hosted bell ceremonies to raise awareness of the key role the private sector can play in advancing gender equality.

In Britain, which was celebrating 100 years since women won the right to vote, a flashmob descended on London's St Paul's Cathedral to honour suffragettes including Emmeline Pankhurst who were pivotal in getting women the vote.

They performed a choral work called the Pankhurst Anthem, written by the suffragette's great-granddaughter Helen Pankhurst and composed by Lucy Pankhurst, who is also related.

But despite the celebrations and positive role models, a study released on Wednesday by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development shows women in every country still do far more unpaid work, like childcare and chores, than men.