8th March 2009: actions organized by WMW National Coordinating Bodies (NCBs) and participating groups

Belgium: on the 8th a march was carried out in Brussels, in alliance with other movements from the coalition “Tous ensemble pour la cause des femmes en RDC » (All together supporting RDC women’s struggle) demanding for peace and justice and an end to war, to sexual assaults towards to the women, to impunity, to spoliation of natural resources and arm trafficking.

Benin: Activities will be held on 22nd March.

Brazil: The WMW will be in the streets throughout the country, in their continued struggle for equality, autonomy and peoples’ sovereignty. Demonstrations, debates and seminars will take place in the states of Alagoas, Amazonas, Minas Gerais, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, as well as on the border between Brazil and Uruguay. Read more (in Portuguese) by clicking on the link:
http://www.sof.org.br/marcha/?pagina=inicio&idNoticia=290

Burkina Faso: Activities will concentrate around the eradication of violence as a way of permitting that women grow and take part in development.

Burundi: The WMW is organising mobilisation and awareness-raising activities in relation to the eradication of violence against women. The theme is “Men and Women: Together for the eradication of violence against women”.

Chile: Under the slogan “Nosotras Exigimos, Unidas Decidimos” (“We demand, We decide”), a large demonstration in Santiago will demand an end to the discrimination, exclusion and violence which characterises the daily life of women, and also access to work, education, health, social protection and to political and social participation, as well as sexual and reproductive freedom. Further information at: http://m8demarzochile.blogspot.com/.

Cuba: The principal activity that will mark the 8th March will be the VII Congress of the Cuban Women’s Federation, during which 900 delegates will debate and approve messages of solidarity with women of the world. The Congress preparation process strengthened the structures and functioning of the women’s organisations involved. On the 31st March, the NCB of the WMW will meet to organise their actions in the run up to 2010.

Democratic Republic of Congo: a march in the capital, Kinshasa, gathered women under the slogan “Je denonce” (“I denounce”). On the South Kivu, a parade was organized around the issue “Feminist leadership in the struggle against HIV/Sida”. Also in South Kivu,  women exchanged in a workshop about pacific resolution of conflicts and reconciliation among communities on the territories of Fizi and Walungu.

Galicia: Women will be in the streets in La Coruña, Compostela, Ferrol, Ourense, Pontevedra and Vigo to struggle for changes that improve their life conditions and achieve and consolidate rights that have been denied. They will also draw attention to the risks that exist in Galicia now that a political party that does not consider women’s right, public services and social policies as its priority has come into power. Read the full programme at: http://feminismo.info

Guatemala: A caravan will gather movements and organisations from all over the country to denounce the effects of the economic crisis on the life of women and the capitalist, patriarchal system as its origin.

Ivory Coast: Activities targeting maternal mortality, HIV awareness-raising campaigns and against violence against women will be held in alliance with different organisations in the city of Yamoussoukro.

Kenya: Demonstrations, public debates and cultural activities will be held on the 7th, 8th, 16th, 20th and 28th March in Nairobi and will be moments to work on issues such as food sovereignty (in opposition to genetically modified foodstuffs), the impunity of police violence and the other WMW Action Areas with local communities. Read the full programme of activities and more information sent by the NCB at: http://www.worldmarchofwomen.org/structure/cn-groupes/afrique/kenya/kenya-march2009/en/

Laos: Cultural activities and debates gathering different women’s organisations, as well as campaigns to raise clothes, materials and other resources for women’s shelters, will be held on 10th March.

Pakistan: In Karachi, a one-day Peace Assembly for women will be held; in Hyderabad, a consultative discussion is being organised on the 7th with members of grassroots organisations and rural women. The theme of the discussion  is “The economical and social status of women in the current political context of the country".

Portugal: a picnic and gathering for party and struggle was organized on the 8th under the slogan “Equality, citinzenship and rights! We are all feminists”. This year’s main issue were migrant women, which are subject to all kinds of exploration and discrimination, laws that subordinate them to men and husbands and to sexist and ethnical stereotypes.

Quebec: “United, mobilized and moving forward” is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day actions and activities. Also, young feminists are organizing decentralized actions, in the follow-up of the Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering… “Resist, Make Waves, Women Misbehave”

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Groups that participate in WMW actions will also carry out activities around the 8th March. Among these, the Second Meeting of Amazigh Women and a debate about local community responsibility in the struggle against violence against women in Morocco and discussions about health, labour market participation and wage equality in Sweden. In London (United Kingdom), 4,000 women and children demonstrated their voices to show united rage and opposition to male violence.