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Newsletter - December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Volume 2, Number 2
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Introduction
From November 3-7, 1999, members of the International Liaison Committee of the World March of Women attended a joint work session with the Coordinating Committee of the March at which they put the finishing touches on action strategies for the year 2000. Representing 14 sub-regions of the world, 37 women (from a total ILC membership of 44) were able to attend the meeting.
The aims of the work session were to come up with an outline of mobilization and actions underway around the world in preparation for the March; determine the nature and details of the world actions; report on the state of advancement of the world demands; and finally, to increase women’s sense of involvement in the project and encourage everyone to carry on.
This was the first time members of the International Liaison Committee had met since the committee was created in October 1998. Work until then had been accomplished through E-mail and fax correspondence. Since the beginning, the values (or principles) underlying the project have been clear: leadership in the hands of women, especially grass-roots women; recognition of the diversity of the women’s movement; agreement to the goals and action plan of the World March; autonomy of participating groups and countries in terms of their own March organizing; non-violence; and above all, that THE MARCH BELONGS TO WOMEN IN EVERY REGION OF THE WORLD. In November 1999, the last principle became a concrete reality.
The five days of work and exchanges confirmed for us the scope of activity taking place all around the planet. Women are committed to organizing the March and are making it their own in different ways. Although challenges still lie ahead, all the women left the November meeting stimulated by the work they had accomplished, enthusiastic about the coming year and proud to be involved in the project.
State of mobilization
There are now over 3000 participating groups in the World March and the number of participating countries has risen to 143. In addition, there are 65 national coordinating bodies currently planning March activities at the national level (adoption of national demands, choice of a national slogan to illustrate our "2000 good reasons to march," organization of the launch, preparation of popular education activities, coordination of the signature campaign, etc.) Some world regions are also developing regional demands and actions.
NUMBER OF COUNTRIES WITH A NATIONAL COORDINATING BODY
AFRICA (19)
THE AMERICAS (14)
ASIA/OCEANIA (10)
CARIBBEAN (5)
EUROPE (12)
MIDDLE EAST/ARAB COUNTRIES (5)
The huge diversity of women’s movements and groups is readily apparent, as is the variety in forms of struggle against the universal problems of poverty and violence against women.
For more information concerning actions being planned in different regions of the world, we invite you to keep your eyes open for the Collection in tribute to women’s struggles worldwide, due to be sent to participating groups in January 2000.
March 8, 2000: World March launch date
March 8, 2000, International Women’s Day, is the kickoff date for actions arising out of the World March of Women. Launches are planned in most of the participating countries. For many, this event will be integrated into their traditional March 8th activities. We invite the national coordinating bodies to organize a media launch of the March on or around March 8, and to contact international press outlets in their countries. A joint news release and easily adaptable scenario for holding a news conference will be sent to each country. We are also examining the feasibility of holding a news conference in Montreal that would be linked with: Geneva, site of the European launch; a media event in New York with members of the International Liaison Committee who will be participating in the UN Women’s Commission meeting; and a launch in an as yet undetermined location in the Global South.
Signature campaign in support of the world demands
The goal of a minimum of 10 million signatures has been set, based on the information available to us during the work session. Women are putting their imaginations to work to come up with interesting formats for the support cards. Both because of the cost involved in producing the paper cards or petitions, and the desire to communicate a particular message, some groups are planning to invite women to sign symbolic objects such as Nike shoe laces or electronic parts (Philippines), "Dothies" a piece of men’s clothing (India and Bangladesh), a quilt, etc.
There seems to have been some confusion regarding our last mailing to participating groups about the signature campaign in support of the world demands. The examples of a support card and petition we sent you were meant to be examples only. Each country should replace the return address with a local address (eg., His Excellency Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, c/o National Coordinating Committee XYZ, name of country, etc.) so that each country can gather and count signatures before sending the whole package off to the New York address.
Remember that each country is encouraged to produce the cards, petitions or other format with the common content as well as their national slogan or other elements (a design or image). National coordinating bodies are therefore responsible for the entire signature campaign in their country. For countries having no national coordinating body, we strongly urge you to organize with other groups so that you can coordinate the signature campaign, draw up your national demands and organize joint activities, thus having a greater impact at the national level. For more information on the signature campaign, see the guidelines accompanying the support card that were sent out in October 1999.
Rallies in Washington and New York
The presence of an international delegation in Washington (October 15, 2000) and the rally in New York (October 17, 2000) are the crowning points of the World March of Women in the Year 2000. We sent a letter to the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, requesting a meeting with him on October 17, 2000. We are also asking for time on the agenda of the UN General Assembly on the same day. We will shortly be sending requests for a meeting with the presidents of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. When we are in Washington, we hope to present them with the demands of women from all over the world. We are counting on women from the US to mobilize women of diverse sectors and cultures to participate in these rallies. Naturally, all participating groups around the world are invited to come. We want to assure the representation of all the countries involved in the March. We are also aiming for massive media coverage of the events.
Political delegation
During the work session, we spent time coming to agreement on the composition of the delegation that will meet Kofi Annan and other representatives of the institutions to whom we are addressing our demands. We want a delegation that reflects all the participating groups and that is representative of women’s diversity. A consensus was reached on the following composition: one representative per participating country (143 at the moment) accompanied by members of the International Liaison Committee and the Coordinating Committee of the World March, as well as representatives of women in particularly severe situations of conflict (to be determined based on the current world situation).
Act on October 17, 2000
No matter where we are on the planet, we want to act in unison on October 17, 2000; we are therefore calling on participating groups to organize a one-hour action (local, regional or national). Also, participating countries are invited to think of an easily recognizable gesture individual women could make on that day to mark the culmination of the World March of Women in the Year 2000.
Follow-up to the March
The women present at the work session indicated their interest in preserving the network created by the World March and continuing the work beyond October 17, 2000. Many women expressed the desire for an evaluation of the event, its impact on women, their communities, the women’s movements, etc. Some considered that another meeting of the International Liaison Committee would be necessary six months after the March in order to conduct an overall evaluation and propose any follow-up.
Who was there from the International Liaison Committee to represent their organization or national coordinating body?
- Susana Stilman, Argentina
Clarification
Many groups participating in the World March have received an invitation to take part in a global women’s strike on March 8, 2000. In the invitation, it is stated that the activities of the World March of Women are being combined with the international strike. This information is inaccurate. The World March organization received a letter from groups organizing the strike and replied that since the two projects (World March and global strike) are proposing actions on March 8, 2000, the organizers should keep in touch with one another. The global strike is not one of the planned actions of the World March. Naturally, this does not exclude groups participating in the March from associating themselves with the strike action, if they so desire.
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Central Africa: 6
East Africa : 1
Southern Africa: 2
West Africa : 10
Central America/Mexico : 4
North America : 2
South America : 8
East Asia : 1
Southeast Asia : 2
South Asia : 5
Oceania : 2
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
- Mary Ziesak, Australia
- Sigma Huda, Bangladesh
- Gerd De Clerck, Belgium
- Awa Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso
- Ruth Ekout Aboui Beyeme, Cameroon
- Joan Grant Cummings, Canada
- Maria Lepage, Canada
- Martha Buritica, Colombia
- Tamara Columbie Matos, Cuba
- Maroulla Vassiliou, Cyprus
- Elvia Dagua, Ecuador (Indigenous Women’s Network)
- Farida El-Nakash, Egypt
- Ana Isabel Lopez de Guevara, El Salvador
- Suzy Rojtman, France
- Mayada Abassi, France (I.D.F.W.)
- Marie Frantz Joachim, Haiti
- Connie Bragas-Regalado, Hong Kong
- Koely Roy, India
- Donica Dowie, Jamaica
- Emily Naffa, Jordan
- Fatoumata Siré Diakite, Mali
- Alicia Sepulveda Nuñez, Mexico
- Touriya Lahrech, Morocco
- Latifa Rijal Ibraimo, Mozambique
- Nancy Elizabeth Henriquez, Nicaragua (Indigenous Women’s Network)
- Franca Ofor, Nigeria
- Sonia Henriquez, Panama (Indigenous Women’s Network)
- Rosa Guillen, Peru
- Lea Espallardon, Philippines
- Elisabete Brasil, Portugal
- Hyun Sook Lee, Republic of Korea
- Mathilde Kayitesi, Rwanda
- Véronique Ducret, Switzerland
- Karen Johnson, United States of America
- Vera Litricin, Yugoslavia
- Mary Nandazi, Zambia
Newsletter, December 1999, Volume 2, Number 2
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