NEW ZEALAND’S National Council of Women (NCW) is celebrating the 125th anniversary of women winning the right to vote by launching a campaign for gender equality today.

On September 19 1893 New Zealand became the first country in the world in which women could vote after a political campaign in which suffragists submitted a 32,000-strong petition.

Three years after the historic decision, the NCW  was founded by Kate Sheppard.

The organisation’s national president Vanisa Dhiru said it was a movement with a rich and proud history.

But she warned that, despite equal pay legislation being introduced in 1983, the gender pay gap stands at 9.2 per cent.

“Pay equity was one of the very first issues that the NCW campaigned on, and we’re still working to close the gap, 122 years on,” Ms Dhiru said.

“My hope is that on Suffrage Day in the years to come we will be able to collectively celebrate true gender equality for all New Zealanders.

“But we need all New Zealanders to work together as one so that we can finally finish the job that Kate started.”