3rd International Meeting - Evaluation
of the World March of Women
October 2-6, 2001
Montréal, Québec Canada
In 2001, a questionnaire was sent to the 112 national coordinating bodies that participated in the World March of Women in the Year 2000 and to the 2 networks who are members of the ILC. 49 were returned and served to take an initial look at the conclusions reached by the coordinating bodies regarding the event. This in turn allowed us to put together some observations and conclusions.
1-Stimulating a vast solidarity movement among grass-roots women's groups such that the March becomes an act of affirmation by the world's women
The scope of grass-roots participation
Generally
speaking, the establishment of grass-roots women's groups in the
countries that answered the questionnaire was widespread in that 48% of
those countries have over 200 women's groups. Although not all existing
grass-roots groups took part in the World March of Women, the breadth
of participation was great and, in some instances, far surpassed the
expectations set initially at the national and international levels. To
assess the effect of the March on groups, we need to look at the goals
of the national coordinating bodies, some of whom did not intend to
contact all the women's organizations in their country. Besides, it
would be utopian to think every group everywhere in the world could be
reached. What is remarkable is that the March managed to contact 6000
groups in 161 countries. In addition to examining the extent of
participation, we must also think about the "quality" of the groups'
participation. After all, participation by a few could still be
first-rate in terms of commitment, its representative nature, etc.
Representing diversity
The
groups taking part in the March were extremely varied. The three types
of regular groups (autonomous women's groups, trade union groups and
women within a mixed group) were the most widely represented. A large
number of young people and women's church groups also took part, along
with-although to a lesser extent-Native women, women artists and
lesbians. Apart from these groups a whole other gamut of organizations
was involved in the March: from women farmers to journalists,
craftswomen, women from cultural minorities, scientists, etc. Of note
was women politicians' participation, which is surprising since the
March's policy was to exclude parliamentarians and women from political
parties, unless they formed the women's committee of such a party.
The groups, moreover, focus on very different problems. Violence and poverty are the centre of attention (with a larger number of groups working on violence than on poverty-39% and 24.5%, respectively). But, the subjects of peace and health come up often and, on occasion, the issues of immigration, education, the environment; in short, all spheres affecting the lives of women directly or indirectly. Thus the groups who took part in the March were not working solely on the questions of violence and poverty but on all sorts of issues beyond the two main demands of the March.
What emerges to characterize the participating groups then is that the March unfolded under the banners of plurality and diversity; the groups contacted and involved in the event were diverse, and the problems they were working on varied enormously.
Stimulating a vast solidarity network
Fifty-eight percent of the national coordinating bodies that responded
to the questionnaire were successful in reaching all the regions,
counties, districts and departments in their respective countries
through grass-roots groups. This percentage is important when we know
that some countries lacked financial and human resources and
experienced communications and transportation difficulties so that they
could not reach some areas. In this context, it is impressive that 58%
of the respondents managed to contact every zone of their country.
Apart from the endeavour nationally, there was great satisfaction
internationally over the fact that all regions of the world were
covered by the event and took part in it.
The national coordinating bodies' challenge of contacting as many groups and regions as possible was not made easier by the state of the women's movement before the March. Thirty-one percent of respondents considered that the movement in their country was fragmented before the March; 14% felt that it was divided and another 14% that it was inactive. Only 29% described it as active and 12% as united.
The figures on the state of the women's movement before the March and the March's impact on it indicate that the event was the occasion to rally the groups and unite them within each country (82%) and, albeit to a lesser extent, within the world's regions (57%) and across the planet (53%). There are myriad examples of how the March rallied groups. In many cases, it meant working together on a common project, bringing together groups that had worked on their own until then, creating ties of solidarity with groups in other countries, mobilizing women around common demands, beginning a dialogue between Southern and Northern countries and also between Eastern and Western ones, demonstrating the strength of collective action and growing solidarity, allowing little-known associations to become more visible, etc.
General comments
For
many countries the number one objective-to stimulate a vast movement of
solidarity among grass-roots women's groups such that the March became
an act of affirmation by the world's women-was achieved, despite the
problems encountered such as some financial difficulties and a certain
lack of coordination between countries. Nonetheless, the March enabled
women's groups to establish ties of solidarity and to unite; it
afforded them the occasion to make their voices heard and to mobilize
around demands common to all women the world over.
2-To work on the national scale to identify demands related to poverty and violence against women and to start acting to get them implemented
Commitment to drawing up a national platform
A large proportion (87.5%) of the national coordinating bodies that
answered the questionnaire drew up a national platform, even though
half of them had never had this experience. Although the groups taking
part in the March remained autonomous, most of them decided to join in
the project and the collective effort to list their demands. The effort
invested in drafting the platforms extended over a considerable period
of time since the process was begun very early on and, in most cases,
lasted several months. The platforms were drafted on the basis of
consultations with grass-roots groups (71% of the coordinating bodies),
discussion (59%) and collecting the demands (49%), which means that the
participating groups gave their input into drafting their national
platform. In over 80% of cases, classifying common demands in order of
priority was possible. For the remaining 20%, a consensus could not be
reached, either because all the demands were deemed equally important
and therefore impossible to order by priority, or because some
coordinating bodies kept to the world demands, or because different
groups did not agree on the priorities and each defended the one they
thought most important. The different countries' platforms were
directed at a wide variety of individuals, groups or structures, but in
very large measure they were aimed at the government or politicians.
Difficulties in drafting the platforms were common in terms of both content and logistics; they varied according to each country's context, but the countries were virtually unanimous in saying that they lacked human and financial resources. Some also were short of time since international deadlines forced them to build consensus among groups quickly in order to come up with a national platform that would represent all of the groups. These three factors-lack of financial and human resources and lack of time-threw up other obstacles to drafting a national platform, for example, the problem of contacting parts of the country, the cancellation of events, the lack of efficient means of communication, and the lack of opportunity to put out popular education tools to explain the demands in accessible terms. Still other factors compounded the situation such as problems related to language, bureaucracy, and the refusal of some groups to endorse certain demands.
Widely diverse actionsThe participating countries organized a very large number of actions that took many different forms. Often, over a long period of time, single or sustained actions were staged, for example, seminars, marches, signature campaigns, workshops, press conferences, festivals and popular meetings. In their multiple forms, the actions reflected countries' degree of commitment in that so much effort was required to organize and stage them. Action was not only organized around the World March; each country, on its own scale and in its own context, held many activities to raise people's awareness and inform and mobilize them. Different strategies were used to reach as many women as possible.
Actions of great scope and impact
Although the actions organized were numerous and took many different forms, not all regions of countries witnessed activities in connection with the World March. Considering the lack of funds, human resources and time, and problems contacting the whole country due to communication and transportation difficulties, this is not a surprising finding.
Many popular education tools were produced in the process of organizing actions. They took a wide variety of forms: posters, exhibits, discussions, radio and television programs, education guides, brochures, videos, etc. Initiatives came in a great variety of forms to inform as many people as possible about the March and the demands. In addition to the popular education tools, information about the March was also conveyed through the media covering the event. In general, most countries considered media coverage quite good: 36% thought it was excellent, 48% rated it as average and 17% felt it was mediocre. Media content was seen as relatively good: 34% rated it as excellent; 57%, average; and 9%, mediocre. Although coverage of March events was not judged excellent by everyone, the ratings were very satisfactory when we consider that in some countries the media do not cover women's actions at all and thus coverage of the March represented a significant step forward.
Many-faceted gains
The
many gains made with respect to decision-makers, women in general and
the population at large often involved increased awareness,
mobilization, information and negotiating ability, all of which
resulted in the strengthening of the women's movement on both the
domestic and worldwide scale. At a personal level, women's self-esteem
grew, we were recognized as interlocutors, and the March gave us
legitimacy to negotiate and strength to defy the international powers
that be. The event also made us aware that together we can have an
impact nationally and internationally. Thus a qualitative leap was
taken. Progress can be measured in terms of popular education, but
examples of concrete gains and gains in relation to the demands and
ongoing struggles are difficult to assess and it is necessary to put
them in context. This leads us to wonder about the impact of a March
that, although it is a worldwide event, cannot bring the same gains to
women everywhere. Some countries describe having contact with their
government as a gain, whereas, for others, holding a meeting with
government to present demands would be seen more as a given than a
gain. When speaking of different countries' achievements in relation to
the March, therefore, it is important to put things in context and
measure gains using each country's data and also the objectives they
set for themselves at the start. What is more, at times the results
consisted of small gains that the national coordinating bodies did not
necessarily mention in the questionnaire. It is difficult to attribute
to the March certain gains that women began to fight for long before
the March. One sure thing, however, is that beyond the gains that must
be taken in context to grasp their importance, the March allowed for
the development and strengthening of groups and the bolstering of the
women's movement.
General comments
Even
though there is still work to be done, most of the coordinating bodies
think that the second objective of the March was achieved. Through the
March, women became aware of their role and commitment to society but
it also involved and mobilized them. The coordinating bodies did what
they could given their specific context and the resources available to
them, and precisely because of these differences, the results obtained
are not of the same kind or of the same importance for everyone. Thus
it is difficult to break down the concrete gains made.
3-To promote our world demands by presenting them wherever decision-makers and communities must take them into account
Adopting the world demands
Most
of the coordinating bodies have a good command and knowledge of the
world demands and only a handful said they were not familiar with them
or had little command over them (7%). All of them were aware of the
world demands, worked on them and told the grass-roots groups about
them. Most included these demands in their national platform and only
14% of those who answered the questionnaire did not include them.
However, many coordinating bodies did not include all the demands but
rather made a selection of those that fit in more closely with the
reality of their country. Some demands created difficulties,
particularly the one on the Tobin tax that was mentioned by a number of
countries, but especially the question of sexual orientation. The
latter was often brought up as a major problem because it clashed with
the country's culture, mores and customs; its inclusion with the other
demands was therefore strongly opposed.
Over and above the lack of consensus on some demands, all the coordinating bodies agree that the world action should be continued to press for the demands. Many options on how to do this were suggested but most centred on working at the national level, while at the same time maintaining worldwide solidarity, continuing to apply pressure, continuing to try building consensus around problems, organizing other ways of fighting, maintaining some form of coordination, trying to influence global policy, expanding the network, etc. The suggestions made are many and varied, but virtually all the coordinating bodies suggested that action continue in different ways, both at the national and local levels, and also at the international level by maintaining the link established between the countries, which constitutes a source of strength when pressing for demands.
Many sources of support
The
signature campaign was an important part of the World March, which
would explain why some countries were disappointed over the number of
signatures collected (55% of the coordinating bodies said they were
dissatisfied with the number while the remaining 45% were satisfied).
The dissatisfaction expressed by over half the countries with respect
to a campaign conducted in many different ways, in particular through
the mobilization of grass-roots groups, is often attributed to a lack
of financial and human resources, but also to insufficient time to
amass the target number of signatures. Other obstacles encountered had
more to do with the specific context of countries, for example, a low
literacy rate that made it difficult for people to read the support
cards; the holding of elections, which meant that the March was
overshadowed; or language problems and difficulties having documents
translated. The signature campaign, which was carried out in all the
countries, was supported by different groups and personalities, as well
as being backed in many other varied ways.
Participation in world actions
The
great majority of coordinating bodies (85%) were generally satisfied
with the actions carried out worldwide as part of the March. Many were
impressed by the breadth of worldwide mobilization but also by the
organization of such an event, linking up with countries throughout the
planet. Dissatisfaction with some of the actions was centred on the
poor response of institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the
UN (even though managing to meet with these institutions was considered
an achievement). In addition, many women who came from very far away to
take part in the March events in the United States were disappointed in
the poor turnout of U.S. women.
Just over half the coordinating bodies that answered the questionnaire (53%) organized national actions on October 17 in solidarity with the women of the world and in support of the women marching in New York. The number was not greater because funds were lacking to organize support activities; because it was vacation time or a national holiday in some countries, which detracted from mobilizing for the World March; or because the delegates were taking part in the world events in the United States and their presence there was a way of backing the March.
General comments
Many
coordinating bodies said they were satisfied that the third objective
had been achieved, but they shared their concerns over the future.
After all, for many of them the world actions are just a step in
pressing for demands and we must decide what to do to keep up the
pressure on policy-makers. For many of the coordinating bodies, to have
succeeded in taking the demands to the highest national or
international level is an unprecedented event and they worry about this
giant step fading away if follow-up is not assured.
4- To undertake a vast process of popular education during which all women can analyze by and for themselves the causes of their oppression and the alternatives that are possible
The breadth of popular education actions
Most national coordinating bodies (86%) organized popular education
actions. They varied from debates, television and radio programs to
workshops, seminars, exchanges of experiences, etc. The aim was to
reach as many people as possible and tell them about the objectives and
actions of the World March of Women in the Year 2000.
Relevance and use of tools
The
coordinating bodies generally rated the popular education tools put out
for the March as excellent or good, the Advocacy Guide and the support
cards being the mostly highly praised. Breaking down the utilization of
the tools, we see that several of them were used frequently in a
variety of circumstances. This was the case with the Advocacy Guide,
the support cards and, to a lesser but significant extent, the song,
the action sheets and the letters to the World Bank and the IMF and to
Kofi Annan. The Mosaic was not used very much, but the documents used
least often were definitely the one on the rights of lesbians and the
one on sex trafficking.
General comments
It is important to note the degree of satisfaction over the quality of
the popular education tools and how diversely they were used. Indeed,
for many coordinating bodies the tools were a great help in preparing
their own national tools or as aids in national actions; they also led
to new discussions and public awareness. However, some coordinating
bodies did have problems with the documents, particularly language
problems, but also the content was not always accessible to everyone.
5-Organizational and structural operations
The role of the International Liaison Committee
Three
quarters of the national coordinating bodies are completely familiar
with the structure of the International Liaison Committee, set up in
October 1998. This implies, of course, that a quarter of the countries
believe they are not very familiar with the ILC, and the question then
is what was missing for everyone to learn about the Committee's
workings. Many coordinating bodies were apparently satisfied with the
way the ILC transmitted information and with its role of stimulating
action. Reaction was less positive regarding its ability to ensure
thorough consultations. Some coordinating bodies thought consultations
should have been conducted on a larger scale and at more appropriate
times so as to take all women's opinions into account-although everyone
acknowledged that this would demand a huge amount of time and
organizing on the ILC's part. Women do want to be consulted and
participate fully in discussions and decision making, and they want to
have time to discuss documents. Thus, some of the suggestions made by
coordinating bodies on different ways of proceeding to achieve the
various objectives were: greater participation by representatives from
each country at March preparatory meetings, more individual contacts,
more consultations, establishing alliances, setting up representation
by country instead of by world region. Although coordinating bodies
expressed great satisfaction over the ILC's work and recognized the
magnitude of the task, many said they would have preferred to be more
involved, consulted more often and have closer ties with the ILC.
The national coordinating bodies' work
Whereas 97% of the national coordinating bodies that answered the
questionnaire said they were satisfied that these bodies were set up,
69% think they should have been more closely involved at the
international level in transmitting information, in consultations, etc.
Still, the role the national coordinating bodies played was essential
to bettering the organization and publicizing of the March throughout
the world for the following reasons: they were quite structured and
enabled groups to come together and get organized; they led to greater
participation by women; they made possible united action and created
bonds of solidarity; they ensured concerted action at the national
level and the March's representative nature; they were the link with
the international level; etc.
Decision-making process regarding what was presented to the World Bank/IMF and the UN The fact that a large proportion of coordinating bodies (over half) did not participate in drafting the documents presented to the World Bank, the IMF and the UN, or in discussions and decisions regarding the action to stage at the World Bank/IMF in Washington, can be explained in large measure by the lack of resources and time needed to become familiar with the issues and give an opinion. This is why the most frequent suggestions made about the collective and democratic process to reach a position, draw up a document, choose an action, etc. revolve around having more time to conduct thorough consultations and having more human and financial resources to do the job. It is also important to ensure good communication between the ILC and the national coordinating bodies and between the latter and grass-roots groups so that everyone is consulted and gives their opinion on different matters, and the feedback is relayed to the ILC. Many coordinating bodies were of the opinion that the March's way of operating was very democratic (49% that answered the questionnaire, as compared with 10% that considered it was not democratic) and participatory (65%), but a fairly large number considered that it was quite centralized (27% versus 22% that thought it was decentralized) and would have preferred to be more involved.
Communication tools
On
the whole, the countries greatly approved of the communication tools,
even though for some, material conditions prevented access to certain
tools (the Web site, for example). The large majority of coordinating
bodies (91%) appreciated the frequency of communication with the
Montréal office, which sent out the necessary information and kept in
touch regularly with each one of them.
Funding
Most countries were able to participate in the March thanks to funding
from different sources, mainly contributions from groups and
foundations, and also government grants. Yet, despite this financial
help, 79% of the countries that answered the questionnaire wound up
with a budget deficit.
A work in progress
Eighty-seven
percent of the national coordinating bodies that answered this question
intend to continue working through various means such as activities to
fight violence against women and poverty, following up what governments
are doing about the March demands, setting up a women's organization
serving as an interface between civil society and the State, drafting
proposed legislation on domestic violence and many other actions.
Among the coordinating bodies that completed the questionnaire, 39% were of the opinion that the World March of Women was a very great success, 54% that it was a great success, and only 7% thought it was not entirely successful. Despite the different constraints many groups had to face throughout, the objectives set forth at the outset were surpassed by far. The great majority of coordinating bodies were satisfied with the actions staged since, thanks to these actions, women and also legislators and the population at large were informed, sensitized and mobilized, and women everywhere were able to raise their voices for the world to hear. This coupling of the world and national dimension is extremely important, because we know that women everywhere on the planet are fighting for the same cause. One of the March's strengths is without a doubt that it was simultaneously a world and national action, which meant the demands became implanted at both levels. Another factor that can explain the March's success and the national coordinating bodies' satisfaction is that the March was rooted in each country but it allowed countries to make their own choices and stage their own actions.
This way of doing things resulted in both individual gains-through the March women raised their self-esteem and could engage in legitimate negotiations-and collective gains such as the development and strengthening of organizations as well as concrete gains. This was a process of individual and collective empowerment and thus both individual women and women's movements grew stronger through the March.
For some coordinating bodies, there was no time to truly finalize all the March had proposed since success and financial resources began to arrive when the March was drawing to its close. There is a need therefore to continue the movement propelled by the March. The conditions to do so exist since the March paved the way, created alliances, united women and women's groups on all continents behind a common undertaking, namely, to eradicate poverty and violence against women.
Tuesday, October 2
(all-day
plenary)
a.m. Word of welcome (President of the FFQ, Preparation Committee),
Introduction on the goals of the meeting (general goal: consolidation
of the March and future prospects), the agenda and process.
Begin sharing one or two examples of how the March brought change,
based on the context of the country: advances in the status of women,
of the women's movement.
p.m.
Continuation of sharing and discussions on the overall lessons, gains,
etc. of the March in order to list and adopt the main elements of the
global political evaluation.
Wednesday, October 3
a.m.
(plenary and regional workshops) Panel (current context and
alternatives) of 4 women (2 for each theme: poverty and violence
against women). Followed by regional workshops to fill out and develop
the panel's presentations.
p.m.
(plenary and language-based workshops)
Presentation of the questions from the working paper concerning the
goals and alliances of the World March of Women. Followed by workshops
organized by language for discussion on our goals and alliances
Thursday, October 4
(All-day plenary)
a.m. Reports from the workshops on goals and alliances (decisions and overall direction)
p.m.
Presentation of the world demands section of the working paper.
Discussions in plenary on the world demands of the March (decisions and
overall direction)
Friday, October 5
a.m.
(plenary and language-based workshops) Presentation of the actions and
media sections of the working paper. Followed by workshops.
p.m.
(plenary and language-based workshops) Plenary on actions and media
(decisions and overall direction). Followed by regional workshops
(starting at 3:00 p.m.) on structure and funding that may be continued
in the early evening.
Saturday, October 6
(all-day plenary)
a.m. Workshop reports and plenary on structure and funding (decisions and overall direction)
p.m.
Review of the decisions to consolidate the World March of Women. Work
plan for the year. Summary of the week's work. Evaluation
FACILITATION AND DECISION-MAKING
Responsibility
for organizing the meeting should be shared by women from around the
world in order to meet our objectives of democratic functioning,
diversity, and leadership sharing. This is why we formed the
Preparation Committee, and we encourage you to participate in the
discussions on our electronic discussion forum. We also hope that
various women will take on particular responsibilities during the
meeting. Facilitation will be assumed by several women and, we hope, by
women from different countries. We ask those of you who know skilled
facilitators within your group to contact us between now and the end of
August. We plan to form a facilitation team for the plenaries composed
of roughly five women who will take turns facilitating the plenary or
assisting the facilitator. Interested women should arrive at least a
day early. It is preferable that representatives not assume the role of
plenary facilitator. Please inform us as soon as possible if a woman in
your coordinating body is interested and able to participate in this
team. We will form a facilitation committee at the end of August. In
addition, we will need facilitators for the workshops. We also want to
assure an equitable representation of the three languages (French,
English and Spanish). This will be reflected in the facilitation and in
the language-based workshops.
The
facilitation committee will propose procedural rules for the plenary
(right to speak, vote and decision-making). They will be sent in
advance to the electronic discussion forum for discussion and adoption.
A facilitation guide will be developed for the workshops and
distributed to the facilitators according to the subject matter being
discussed.
Who can participate in the meeting?
The
3rd international meeting of the World March of Women being held on
October 2-6, 2001, is limited to representatives of national
coordinating bodies and the two networks who are members of the ILC
i.e., the Native Women of the Americas Network and the Women's
International Democratic Federation. The Preparation Committee made
this decision because of the number of coordinating bodies expressing
ambivalence about the idea of inviting new networks to join us. We
think it is preferable, as do other women, to consolidate the March
first and have a thorough discussion about membership before inviting
new networks to join. We also know that several networks (regional or
international networks, in particular) are already participating groups
in the March and the meeting in October will certainly provide
additional information on this subject.
Participation
for each coordinating body is limited to two representatives, including
countries where there is a representative on the International Liaison
Committee. This figure was proposed in order to ensure a better balance
between all participating countries and to take logistical concerns
into account. Countries or territories where there is more than one
coordinating body are asked to observe the maximum of two
representatives. There are a few countries with more than two
coordinating bodies and they are asked to send one representative per
organization, but this is considered an exception. There is also a
subregional coordinating body in the African Great Lakes region that
wishes to send a representative. We have agreed to this request,
recognizing that the March organization is not entirely symmetrical and
that some situations merit an exception. These, however, are the only
exceptions that we can accept at this point.
We
cannot allow observers for the same reasons. An exception will be made
for observers from Québec. They will be limited to 20 women and are
members of the Coordinating Committee and the board of directors of the
Fédération des femmes du Québec who will be present in order to meet
the representatives and hear the discussions.
We
have included an Appendix with the list of countries with and without a
coordinating body. Participating groups in countries without a
coordinating body will be contacted in August and encouraged to form a
coordinating structure so they may participate in the meeting.
This
section should be studied in consultation with the groups in your
coordinating body. Your representatives should have a mandate for each
of these subjects. We encourage you to give them a flexible mandate in
order to permit discussions and consensus building. Also, we ask that
you use the electronic discussion forum to inform us of your proposals
or questions as soon as you have had your discussions. This will be
very useful for preparing the meeting.
POLITICAL EVALUATION
QUESTIONS
What
is your evaluation of our action at the world level? What do you think
the March accomplished at this level? What is your political analysis
of the impact of the March at the world level ?
GOALS OF THE WMW
1-
To stimulate a vast movement of grassroots women's groups so that the
march becomes a gesture of affirmation by the women of the world;
These
goals are still relevant for the consolidation phase of the movement.
Still, determination of the goals for the second phase of the World
March of Women should be carried out, among other things, by reflection
on our primary mission. Also, the global evaluation should help us to
identify what distinguishes the World March of Women from other
movements. Here are some initial thoughts:
To
begin with, we must reaffirm that the ultimate goal of the World March
of Women is to struggle against poverty and violence against women.
While some groups wish to add issues like peace, AIDs, discrimination,
etc., no one has proposed to replace one or the other of our central
issues.
The
first goal of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 was to
stimulate a vast movement of solidarity among grass-roots women's
groups. The principal of uniting grass-roots groups is still important,
but for the other part of this goal, we have entered a second phase of
the March, where the movement needs to be consolidated. Since the
dynamism of 2000 has subsided more in some regions than in others, we
must also provide new impetus for the March.
At
the October meeting we need to clearly identify why we are together and
what we want to accomplish together. In this respect, we must define
more clearly the role of the World March of Women and its areas of
action (for example: relationship with anti-globalization groups, alert
network, tool for mobilization during international conferences)
The
March distinguished itself by linking the issues of poverty and
violence against women. In practice, that means that many participating
groups identify more closely with one or the other issue and favour
different forms of action. We also wished to link class and gender
analysis in the identification of the causes of poverty and violence
against women. To a somewhat lesser degree, we integrated an
anti-racist analysis.
Another
distinguishing characteristic of the March was that it proposed a world
action with a focus on popular education. Some groups wish to continue
actions based on our own agenda rather than in reaction to institutions
like the UN and others. Other groups would like us to take advantage of
international conferences as forums for mobilization, education and
action to advance our demands. Everyone, however, shares the conviction
of the importance of collective action.
These
specificities, positioning and role must be reflected in our goals. We
believe that in October we must reaffirm our general shared analysis
and define our primary mission and general goals for this second phase
of the March. At the same time, we must recognize that our analysis is
constantly evolving and that it will never be defined once and for all
in any single document; We have tools such as the document that was
presented to Kofi Annan in which we describe the world in which we want
to live. We encourage you to reread it. Our discussions in October
should advance us in our quest to establish the extent of our shared
thinking.
QUESTIONS
What goals do you propose for the second phase/follow-up/continuation of the World March of Women? Explain.
Do you agree with keeping poverty and violence against women as our central issues? Explain.
Do
you agree with the three areas of action mentioned above(relationship
with anti-globalization groups, alert network, tool for mobilization
during international conferences)? Do you accord equal importance to
each? Explain. Should some be more important? Why? When? How? At the
national or international level?
Should we have a goal that is directly linked to contemporary globalization? How would you formulate it?
In
the next stage of the March, we must also position ourselves with
respect to other movements and international networks, as much in terms
of establishing possible alliances and collective actions as to clearly
establish the specificity of the March's principal mission. It is also
important that we have a thorough knowledge of the networks that are
already participating in the March and see how we can mutually
strengthen our analysis and actions. Some alliances are short-term and
will be determined based on the action we undertake. Others are more
associated with our goals, for example, the links with groups who have
taken leadership in the current anti-globalization movement at the
international level (ATTAC, Via Campesina, Global South, 50 Years is
Enough, World Social Forum).
In
October we must talk about who we want to ally with, why and when. To
do this, we ask that you identify the regional or international
networks that exist in your region of the world, indicate which ones
are members of your coordinating body and describe possible links with
the March in your country/territory.
We
do not think that we have to decide precisely with whom we wish to
work, but rather agree on some principles. This will provide an overall
direction on which to base decisions with respect to invitations we
receive to send representatives to various bodies. We also need to
decide in the short term, how we wish to participate in the World
Social Forum organizing committee meeting coming up next January.
QUESTIONS
To
what degree do we want to engage in collective action with the
above-mentioned groups? How are we going to ally with the other
networks of women or feminists working on the issues of trade and the
economy? How do we work with the other networks working on the issue of
violence against women or women's rights? Do we need to make specific
approaches? With whom? Why?
Do you have other suggestions for alliances?
The
March evaluation questionnaire and above all, our experience reveal
that one of the principal strengths of the World March of Women is the
diversity of groups and women represented and united through a common
platform. At the meeting in New York City in October 2000, several
delegates proposed to modify the platform, while others were against
any changes. Clearly, everyone remembers the discussions of October
1998 concerning the demands and wishes to avoid repeating a similarly
divisive experience. Still, the next meeting will be confronted with
the difficult task of conciliating the different positions or finding a
means of acting in various forms of coalition.
Clearly,
we cannot pretend that there are no proposals to add or change the
world demands. Some regions of the world wish to address more
specifically the issue of women's health or AIDs. Others wish to
continue discussions in order to integrate the demands regarding
lesbians' rights, or to more explicitly deal with the issue of
abortion. We must deal with these requests in spite of the reservations
that have been expressed. We must also review some of our demands with
respect to the evolving world situation.
Some
women have proposed reworking the world demands by adding more elements
of analysis. In this respect, during our June meeting, we talked about
the idea of working over a longer period of time on a statement of
principles. It could be related to our primary mission, and we can
imagine that such a statement could come out of our discussions in
October. In the meeting, we could concentrate on discussing and sharing
our analysis (the origin of the idea of a panel on Wednesday morning to
talk about the current context and perspectives or alternatives
concerning poverty and violence against women); the statement could be
written later.
With respect to the platform, different suggestions have been made since the meeting in New York City:
We
think that in October, we must take the time to have in-depth
discussions about our analysis (on the current context, to whom we
should address ourselves to end poverty and violence against women,
etc.) and, subsequently, identify what changes we want to make to our
world platform.
QUESTIONS
What do you think of the idea of having a broad platform that would serve as a basis for annual action campaigns?
To whom should we address our demands? Should we address other bodies or groups?
What mechanisms should we adopt to evaluate and monitor the progress of our world demands?
What work can be done by national coordinating bodies to advance our demands at the national or regional levels?
What changes do you propose to the platform? Why?
What
process do you propose for building a consensus around demands such as
those concerning lesbian rights, reproductive rights, sex trafficking? ACTIONS
We
have already, in our first phase, achieved coordinated actions on a
global level and the adoption of many national platforms in addition to
the world platform. At the regional level, in Europe and in central
Africa, women organized coordinated regional actions and adopted a
regional platform. We think this is an interesting model that could
perhaps be adopted in other world regions.
As
we mentioned in the section on goals, for the second stage we are
proposing to locate our actions within three areas of intervention:
These
choices of action are obviously intimately related to our analysis of
the current context and discussion on our primary mission. For the
October meeting we have identified a few strategy questions needing
debate.
First
of all, there is a consensus that the March allowed the women's
movement to firmly position itself within the movement of action and
mobilization around globalization. There is also a desire to give more
visibility to the presence of women and feminist demands within this
opposition movement to current globalization practices. This requires
participation in mixed groups and the organization of specific
activities for the women's movement.
In
order to keep up with the increasingly full schedule of international
gatherings, we must depend on the active involvement of the national
coordinating bodies in the countries hosting the event, as was the case
with the 2001 World Social Forum in Brazil, the Peoples' Summit last
April in Québec, or the G8 meeting in Genoa. World March coordinating
bodies can play a fundamental role in mobilizing the women of their
country around these events. Many of these events propose simultaneous
actions in many countries. We are also being called on to participate
in the development of alternatives in groupings such as the World
Social Forum, Via Campesina, etc.
QUESTIONS
Do
you have specific actions to propose that we can bring to these mixed
groupings? Are you ready to mobilize women in your country/territory to
participate in national or world actions addressed to the G8, WTO,
World Bank, IMF, etc.? How should the WMW be represented during global
actions?
As
for the second area of intervention, we think that in order to maintain
our specificity, we need to come up with more original and effective
ways of responding to the numerous cases of women's rights violations
arising at the national and international level. Acting as an alert and
monitoring network should consist in more than sending support messages
and petitions via e-mail. These actions are very important, but they
are already being accomplished by a number of other networks.
For
example, the European coordination body has discussed the idea of
intervening in the Middle East crisis by sending a mission of feminist
observers to meet with women there and determine solutions. We could
choose one or a few situations meriting the organization of such
missions that could be the responsibility of a national coordinating
body or network, with other groups of the WMW taking part or making
contributions from within their own countries.
QUESTIONS
The
third area of intervention is the mobilization of grass-roots groups on
the occasion of international conferences organized by the UN or other
international institutions with the aim of advancing and defending
feminist proposals and alternatives concerning women's rights.
Feminists from many countries participate in these conferences, but the
March could bring its particular contribution of an international
feminist platform. Among other things, we could work to ensure that
issues such as reproductive and lesbian rights be properly presented,
because these issues are usually neglected in this setting. Groups
working on violence against women and women's rights groups, in
particular, see these conferences as a way of advancing women's rights
and providing tools for the struggle at the national level.
Others
believe that we should not see UN conferences as a useful place to
intervene. First, because this institution imposes an already
overflowing agenda (conference on funding development, the series of
social +10 conferences) and also, because this work is defined
essentially within the parameters of international diplomacy. The work
consists mainly, therefore, in a monitoring and lobbying role and for
some women, this does not fully represent the nature of the March.
We
will probably have a good debate on the usefulness of international
conferences and the kinds of action we can do in this context. In
general, some women view these gatherings as excellent opportunities to
make contacts, further develop our analysis, and propose alternatives
and actions, as the March did in 1995 in Beijing.
QUESTIONS
Regardless
of the area of intervention, when we determine and adopt our action
plan, we think we should preserve the particular strength of our
feminist action network which involves national actions in tandem with
a world action (simultaneously or in series) based on shared demands.
Our
common political commitment, as expressed in our platform, is to change
the economic and social paradigm and critique neoliberal policies. We
want to focus more on the causes of poverty and violence against women.
This is why we must talk about strategy in October.
For
example, there has been a proposal that we set ourselves a timeline for
a pressure campaign on the international institutions (UN, IMF, WB) and
challenge them on their commitment to cut poverty by half by 2015. We
could, for example, plan various campaigns demonstrating the
feasibility of eliminating poverty; we could also establish indicators
for evaluating their progress and plan actions for 2005 and 2010.
Some
women consider the 2015 timeline as too restrictive and even not very
useful. We know that urgent measures are needed to ensure access to
drinking water and food, among other things. Some women think it is
therefore unacceptable to set a 15-year target.
We
think that the Wednesday morning panel will also provide us with
inspiration for the discussions we need to have before coming to a
decision about future actions.
We
talked about the importance of a world action organized by the World
March of Women in 2005. We need to find an original idea that will
remind everyone that the March continues and that women have not
stopped moving forward. Leading up to 2005, we could work on
strengthening national and regional actions and developing initiatives
in the three areas of action mentioned above. We could also carry out
smaller-scale actions in October to highlight the presence and activity
of the World March of Women, building a crescendo until 2005.
Another
possibility is to undertake various short-term global campaigns linked
to our demands, such as the debt, taxing financial speculation, the
International Criminal Court, etc. These campaigns could involve us in
developing educational tools or proposing specific actions.
QUESTIONS MEDIAS
For
the second phase, the World March of Women needs a media strategy in
order to publicize our existence and advance our demands. Naturally,
the primary responsibility for contact with the media is assumed by,
and should continue to be assumed by each national coordinating body.
Still, since the media are increasingly regulated by conglomerates
based in the U.S. and Europe that distribute images and news for the
majority of countries, it is important to be able to reach these
agencies.
During
2000, the WMW coordinating team sent news releases to the national
coordinating bodies and we had a media relations officer for the world
actions. We must find a way to assure contacts with the international
media in the present context of reduced resources.
We
need a communications plan that includes the strengthening of our
relationships with women journalists and links with alternative and
mainstream media. We can, among other things, tell each other about the
journalists who provide good coverage of our events. We must develop a
media strategy linked to the international actions that we will adopt.
Our
first media work will be related to the international meeting and the
activities of the week of October 17, 2001. Please let us know, by the
way, if you are planning an activity this year. We propose to send a
news release to national coordinating bodies two weeks before the
meeting and we ask that you hold a press conference to announce the
meeting and your action, if applicable. Journalists will be invited to
attend some parts of the meeting. On October 6, at the end of the
meeting, we will write a news release that you can bring back with you
and distribute in your country. We will also hold a press conference to
announce our principal decisions, even if the impact of this press
conference will probably be restricted to Québec and Canada.
QUESTIONS THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD MARCH
The
evaluation of this historic action reveals a unanimous desire to
maintain, consolidate and relaunch the World March of Women as a global
feminist action movement. The socio-political context characterized by
neoliberal, capitalist, sexist, racist and environmentally destructive
globalization; the enormity of the obstacles facing women, especially
with respect to poverty and violence against women; and the experience
of mobilization acquired over the last four years are factors that
politically justify the continuation of the World March of Women.
The
international meeting held in Montréal in 1998 decided on a
decision-making structure for the World March that met the need for
democratic and effective operation at the time. This structure was
rooted in three elements:
-
the board of directors of the Fédération des femmes du Québec that held
administrative and financial responsibility for the World March (the
March was from the start a project of the FFQ with no independent legal
status). The FFQ set up the secretariat of the World March as a
coordinating body. Over the past few years this secretariat was
composed of approximately ten employees. There are three full-time
workers at the moment.
-
the coordinating committee of the World March composed exclusively of
representatives from Québec, responsible for carrying out the March.
The secretariat and various work committees (strategy, mobilization,
media, funding, etc.) reported to this coordinating committee;
-
the International Liaison Committee, composed of 44 members (regional
representatives and two networks) selected during the October 1998
meeting, responsible for relaying information on the March to the
different regions; members were responsible for leading consultations
and stimulating activity in the diverse regions.
The
evaluation reveals a number of weaknesses or functional problems with
these structures that need to be taken into consideration. Also,
because the context has changed and the World March now belongs to all
its participants, it is necessary to propose new structures that will
respond better to the need for participatory democracy, flexibility,
transparency and effectiveness.
A
first step in this direction was taken at the annual meeting of the FFQ
on June 2 and 3; they unanimously voted for the creation of a new
entity that will be distinct and independent of the FFQ, with the FFQ
taking responsibility for assuring a period of transition over the
coming year. The hope is that the March will become an organization
with its own structure. The FFQ will be an active member, but will no
longer assume responsibility.
A
second step was taken during the meeting of June 13, 14 and 15, when
women from outside of Québec who are members of the committee
responsible for preparing the international meeting of October 2001 met
in Montréal. The following proposal issues from an initial study of the
issue by women at this meeting.
We
are putting this hypothesis out for debate. We don't pretend to have
solved all the problems that need to be addressed in order to transform
the World March of Women into an autonomous international structure.
We
are therefore approaching the question of structure with a new
perspective, propelling the March toward major changes. We remind you
that last October, women expressed the need to have a flexible
structure, reflecting a spirit of open-mindedness and creativity.
Broad principles supported by the World March of Women
- The March is an autonomous movement of women, independent of any party or organization having ties with government;
-
The March is composed of grass-roots women's groups of all origins,
nationalities, and orientation (political, cultural, sexual, etc.) and
of all social conditions;
- Mixed groups may join, but women must have the leadership in actions linked to the March;
-
The March promotes the autonomy of groups and national coordinating
bodies while ensuring respect of the demands and political direction at
the world level.
The international meeting of the World March of Women
Decision-making structure
The decision-making assembly will discuss adoption of the following development plan:
Role and mandate of the executive committee and secretariat
-
assure execution of the direction and decisions adopted by the
decision-making assembly, in coordination with the board of directors
of the FFQ during the next year;
The
secretariat of the March will work under the supervision of the
executive committee and carry out the decisions and mandates conferred
on it by this body.
Follow-up and evaluation of actions and accomplishments of the March
The importance of communications
QUESTIONS FUNDING
During
these years, we succeeded in diversifying the sources of funding for
the March and respecting certain ethical considerations. For the second
phase, we believe it is important that we aim for greater financial
autonomy for the March, while still respecting certain principles. We
would like to produce a fundraising guide for the October meeting.
At
its last general meeting, the Fédération des femmes du Québec committed
to furnishing the necessary support to assure a transition to the
creation of a legal entity that would be structurally and financially
autonomous. In the next year we must identify sources of funding that
will enable us to achieve our goals and carry out our actions. In
October, we will propose a financial development plan covering a period
of several years.
We
believe that in this new phase, we must also view fundraising as a
collective responsibility. This may mean that national coordinating
bodies would be asked to incorporate into their budgets a contribution
for work done at the international level. This contribution could be
made through a percentage of the coordinating body's budget or through
percentages by world region. We might also share responsibility and
tasks for fundraising based on the particular actions undertaken.
Clearly,
we must continue to share information on our fundraising experiences
and new sources to investigate. Some women have proposed to organize
public activities that would serve both an educational and a
fund-raising purpose; this could even be envisioned for the
international level. Without a doubt, funding for the World March of
Women will continue to be a challenge.
QUESTIONS As
you see, we have enough discussion topics to amply fill our five days
of meetings. We remind you of the importance of putting your questions,
proposals, and answers to the questions raised in this document on our
electronic discussion forum or to send them to us before the meeting.
The Preparation Committee will use these elements for more detailed
preparation of the meeting and facilitation. We repeat that all
suggestions concerning content and format of the meeting (subjects,
facilitation, parallel activities, etc.) are welcome. Naturally, if you
are also willing to accept tasks in order to implement one or more of
your ideas, all the better!
Content of the Working paper :
Goals for the day:
- Sharing and discussion on the national evaluations
- Adopt the main elements of the global political evaluation of the World March of Women
Goals for the day:
-
Arrive at a common analysis of the current context and the alternatives
we should develop to continue the struggles against poverty and
violence against women
Goal for the day:
- Agree on the goals of the World March of women, our alliances and our world demands
Goals for the day:
- Adopt an action plan and a media strategy
Goals for the day:
-
Agree on a development plan for the structure and funding of the World
March of Women; review our work plan and evaluate the meeting.
In
an attached Appendix you will find a preliminary report based on
questionnaires completed by 49 national coordinating bodies. This
represents a first step in the process of arriving at a global
political evaluation of the World March of Women. During our meeting in
June, the Committee realized how difficult it is to come up with an
exhaustive evaluation of the March. There are so many elements to
consider, and the evaluation tools and criteria are not uniform. It is
clear, therefore, that in October, we must discuss the overall
observations issuing from the questionnaires, but we must also identify
the underlying lessons and qualitative changes observed at the national
and global level. This last element is particularly important because
the political evaluation of the March must be more than simply the sum
of what happened in the countries. We must also evaluate what happened
at the international level. We therefore invite you to answer the
questions that follow. We also ask that you bring any materials that
could enrich the global evaluation. During the meeting, your
representatives will have the opportunity to make a concise
presentation of your national political evaluation (by identifying one
or two particularly significant elements in terms of advancing women's
rights and the women's movement in your country/territory). After the
meeting, we must produce a document that will highlight the diverse
facets of our political evaluation.
What
changes do you observe since the World March of Women? In particular,
two levels of change: improvement of women's status in your
country/territory and the strengthening of the women's movement in your
country/territory or region.
The
goals of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 were first
determined for a global action project with a specific time limit. The
goals were as follows:
2- To promote equality between men and women;
3- To undertake a vast process of popular education during which all
women can analyze by and for themselves the causes of their oppression
and the liberating alternatives that are possible;
4- To highlight the common demands and initiatives issuing from the
global women's movement relating to the issues of poverty and violence
against women;
5- To force governments, decision-makers and members of civil society
to support and institute the changes necessary for improving the status
of women and women's quality of life the world over.
How would you describe the primary mission of the World March of Women?
ALLIANCES
We
were invited to participate in the organizing committee of the World
Social Forum to be held in Porto Alegre in 2002. How should we continue
in this work? How do we want to be represented at the World Social
Forum? Do we want to organize actions in each country? Organize a
day-long seminar to discuss the links between poverty and inequality,
the links between sexism, capitalism and racism?
WORLD DEMANDS
-
have a more exhaustive platform of world demands, based on which we
would determine annual action campaigns linked to one or more specific
demands (for example, those most likely to be won, or those requiring
the most popular education);
- rediscuss whom we must address in order to reach our goals of ending
poverty and violence against women, and review our demands in
consequence. Many women think, for example, that we need to review our
position with respect to the international institutions and begin
addressing the WTO and businesses or transnational corporations who are
major political and economic players at the heart of increasing
poverty, wealth concentration, environmental deterioration, etc. Others
also want us to address men as a group because in order to end violence
against women, a commitment is required on the part of men.
What do you think about the idea of drawing up a statement of principles to accompany our world demands?
The
World March of Women was successful in creating a rich, mutually
reinforcing process between the local, national and international
levels. The pluralism and diversity of participating groups enabled us
to take into account socio-political differences between regions and
countries/territories. Our identity or public face is not only linked
with our goals and platform, but also with the actions we carried out:
the coordinated popular education campaign based on our platform, the
widespread use of the WMW logo, the establishment of a power base and
the pressure we brought to bear for the adoption of public policy
reflecting our demands-all this is part of the strength of the World
March of Women.
-action in coordination with the anti-globalization movements (continue
to participate in gatherings opposing the agendas of the World Bank,
IMF, WTO, etc.);
-monitor observance of women's rights and form an alert network to act on "flash points" around the planet;
-mobilization during international conferences organized by the UN or
other international institutions in order to provide a feminist
mobilization and action alternative.
How do you envision this work? How can we maintain an equilibrium when
working with mixed movements, so that we preserve our specificity? On
what issues, when and where do women of the WMW wish to engage in
collective action with allied organizations? When do we want to act on
our own? Why? When and how do we want to be represented by an
international delegation when we are participating in the construction
of alternatives to current globalization?
What do you think of this action idea? Would you be willing to take
responsibility for coordinating such a mission? In what situation? How
can we act as a collective voice and action at the international level
in response to specific situations (for example, Afghan women)? What
mechanism can we develop for responding quickly and effectively to
diverse political situations and events?
What do you think of this forum as a place to advance our world
demands? What kinds of action, both national and global, could we
propose? How would we establish our presence as the World March of
Women? Through the participation of national coordinating bodies? Do we
want to send a specific delegation? Should we select specific
conferences among the list? Which ones? Why?
Do you agree with the idea of adopting an action plan that would
include national and international actions? Do you have any suggestions
for strengthening the link between local or national actions and the
world demands? What are the best ways to advance our world demands?
What strategies would you employ in priority? Would you agree with an
action with a timeline such as the one for 2015? Explain. Do you agree
with annual global campaigns? Which ones would you propose? Do you
think we should develop the idea of regional action strategies as an
answer for regional demands? What do you think of the idea of repeating
world actions in October to maintain our visibility and consolidate the
action of the World March of Women? What rhythm of actions do you
propose?
Evaluation
of media coverage of the WMW actions varies greatly from one country to
the next. In some countries, the larger actions were covered, mainly in
the written media, but coverage did not always reflect the message we
wished to convey to the public.
Did
you use the news releases sent out by the international team? How can
we obtain more media impact globally? Do you agree with the media
activities proposed for the October meeting? Do you have suggestions
concerning a long-term communications plan? Are you planning an
activity for the week of October 17? What is it?
Born
of an initiative of the Fédération des femmes du Québec in 1996, the
World March of Women rapidly spread across the world. It now belongs to
thousands of women around the planet who are associated with the 6000
participating groups, most of whom are grouped in 112 national
coordinating bodies.
A
structure should be anchored in a direction and principles that are
shared by the participating groups. We propose to root the new
structures in the same direction and principles that have guided the
World March of Women since the beginning:
The World March of Women organization will be officially created at the
international meeting of October 2001 in Montréal. The main goal of
this meeting is to to create and consolidate the World March of Women
as a feminist, autonomous and global action movement. It will bring the
World March of Women closer to becoming a non-governmental organization
(NGO) independent of the FFQ.
The
international meeting of October 2001 will be the first decision-making
assembly of representatives of national coordinating bodies and the two
networks members of the ILC, while taking into account the current
composition of the International Liaison Committee.
-
that the International Liaison Committee be dissolved and replaced by
an Executive Committee (or Executive Commission) composed of ten
representatives;
- that members of the executive committee be elected at the
international meeting in October based on the principle of geographic
and cultural diversity;
- that a World March secretariat be formed. At the beginning, the
secretariat could be located in Montréal to facilitate the implantation
stage, but the goal would be a secretariat that would rotate throughout
the world as soon as financing permits;
- that we set a one-year deadline for legal incorporation with a
constitution and by-laws; we should also study diverse structural
models adopted by similar networks or organizations.
The mandate and role of the executive committee are to:
- support the secretariat;
- exhibit initiative for advancing the world demands;
- assure transparent, democratic and participatory administration.
We
propose to hold a second decision-making assembly of the World March of
Women no later than 2005. Its primary goal will be to:
- report on world actions (during the transitional period of 2001 to 2005);
- report on the state of the world demands;
- adopt a new strategic development plan.
The World March of Women organization must be constantly concerned with
the issue of communications. National and regional coordinating bodies
that were formed in the context of the March (112 at this time plus the
European and African Great Lakes coordinating bodies) wish to be more
involved from now on in the decision-making process. In this respect,
the Executive Committee and the Secretariat should work on
consolidating the electronic discussion forum or other communications
tool to facilitate discussions and consultations. This concern should
be central to the work of the Executive Committee and Secretariat.
Do you agree that the October meeting will be the meeting to found the
World March of Women as an autonomous entity? Are you in agreement with
the overall principles underlying membership to the World March of
Women? Should we invite other groups or networks to participate in the
March? Which ones? Why? Would their membership be the responsibility of
the national coordinating bodies or should their be a direct connection
to the international level? Do you agree with the proposed
decision-making structure? Do you agree with the role and mandate of
the executive committee and secretariat of the March? Explain.
Up
to this point, fundraising for the accomplishment of the world actions
has been assumed by the Fédération des femmes du Québec. We are very
proud to have succeeded in carrying out this world-scale action with
what was, after all, fairly minimal funding. We can say that we were
effective administrators.
What do you think of the proposal that national coordinating bodies
contribute to support work on the international level? How should this
be implemented? Do you have other suggestions to help finance the March
secretariat? Do you agree with the principal that fundraising is a
collective responsibility?
CONCLUSION
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