Newsletter - March 2004

The Charter – Coming to you soon!

In the last newsletter we reported on the overall 2004–2006 action plan that was adopted during the meeting of the International Committee in March 2003. The central element of the plan will be the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity, but this grand declaration of our shared feminist utopia depends on your participation. The national coordinating bodies have already sent us their comments on the structure of the Charter and based on this a first draft was written, following numerous discussions and corrections by the international sub-committee mandated to work on the document. This draft is going out for consultation to our 5700 groups in a mailing that is just a few weeks off. From March 15 to June 15, 2004, each group must meet with its members to evaluate the Charter using the accompanying questionnaire. It should be a very stimulating exercise in popular education! Your reactions to the substance of the Charter can be sent by mail or in a special section of the WMW Web site that will soon be available. We are counting on your participation!

To give you a taste, here are the first few lines: “The Global Women’s Charter for Humanity is a testament to our love for life and enchantment with the world’s beauty.” It’s a good start, don’t you think?

Julie Bégin, Communications officer, International Secretariat

March 20 Mobilization - A year of war, an army of protesters

Gathered in India in January 2004, the World March of Women’s International Committee participated in a wide range of activities of the World Social Forum and gave their support to the “Call of the Social Movements Assembly,” in particular the idea of organizing global resistance to war on March 20 of this year.

Here is a short excerpt: "We call on all citizens of the world to mobilize simultaneously on 20th March in an international day of protest against war and the occupation of Iraq imposed by the United States, Great Britain and the Allied Forces... We demand the immediate withdrawal of all occupying troops and support the right of the Iraqi to self-determination and sovereignty, as well as their right to reparation for all the damages caused by the embargo and war."

We encourage you all to mobilize in your respective countries for the March 20 action! Make sure women’s voices are heard, and above all, demonstrate your opposition to the military occupation of Iraq and the militarization of our planet, in particular, in the 80 countries whose ongoing wars are never reported

Julie Bégin, International Secretariat

AFTER MUMBAI – World Social Forum Report

Since 2000, when the World Social Forum (WSF) began, the World March of Women has been part of the effort to make the WSF a meeting place of movements opposing neoliberalism. Our goal is to ensure that within this process, feminism and independent feminist action are visible components of the globalized struggle for justice. Like the March, the Forum constitutes an important initiative to unite forces that previously were widely dispersed.

Since 2001, the March’s involvement in the WSF has been driven by the goal of preserving this forum as a place for sharing, renewal and innovation for local, national and international movements. This meant participating in debates where a feminist presence was not necessarily expected, proposing visions and strategies for transforming economics and work, and encouraging women’s independent analysis and action as basic practices, not only within the women’s “caucus,” but also on all fronts of the struggle for radical social transformation. We worked to integrate the radicalism of our struggle against patriarchy into the Forum, in all its diversity (peasant, student, and artist organizations, unions, etc.).

In addition, we have become more involved in the process of coordinating social movements; we feel at home with the spirit of revolt of a new generation of activists while continuing to develop new aspects of our own identity. Increasingly, our firm belief in, and active commitment to building alliances with the alternative globalization movement have been validated. Further, we now consider ourselves to be a significant part of this movement, with all the accompanying responsibilities.

Certainly, we are far from having the impact we would desire on the process and functioning of the WSF. But we believe that the fruits of our presence at the Forum are attributable to the March’s capacity to maintain its action, working steadily and independently as a movement with a consistent, critical perspective. This has given us access to the more formal, decision-making structures concerning the WSF process.

Since 2002, our participation in the Forum has led to our close involvement with the creation of the Social Movements World Network. Qualified as a “broad, plural, feminist and anti-neoliberal” structure, the Network was created to facilitate concerted action of social movements based on a “broad, democratic, plural, internationalist, feminist, anti-discriminatory and anti-imperialist” agenda. Since 2003, the World March of Women has also taken on the challenges of establishing a working process for this Network. It is obvious that occasional gatherings and joint declarations are no longer adequate, because their impact is too limited. We realize that our alliance with mixed movements is a difficult task because it means we must invent concrete gestures of solidarity between women and men who are conducting an ongoing struggle. Our participation in the Network can be characterized as the continual search for common, creative solutions and the effort to make these meetings more democratic so they can be more than an information exchange among groups. Our objective is to establish a long-term dialogue leading to common analysis; a pluralist and transparent process for coordinating local and global struggles; and the reinforcement of relations between the Network and the process of the Forum.

The 4th WSF in Mumbai, marked by the massive participation of grass-roots groups and the absence of institutional support, was a vivid demonstration that other kinds of forums are also possible. It confirmed the importance of a forum that permits political expression through street demonstrations. The celebration of struggles in indeed part of the spirit of these gatherings, as essential as speeches to the construction of a social movement. It was a reminder that every “operational” choice we make about locations and functioning of an event is also a political choice. The decision to hold the next WSF in Porto Alegre in 2005 received little opposition; however it will require an enormous effort to overcome the failings accumulated over the first three years of the process, particularly in a context of political controversy and weak social opposition by Brazilians to the conservative policies of Lula’s government. It will be a decisive year for the survival of the WSF as a forum for the expression of popular social struggles and a laboratory of actions and alternatives to current systems.

Two women’s proposals for the WSF

As a feminist movement rooted in the daily lives of women, and in line with the World March of Women’s commitment to encouraging the participation of grass-roots groups, we have two proposals concerning the process of the World Social Forum. First, starting in 2005, meetings should be held every two or three years. The current pace contributes to political and operational choices of a “marketing” nature, resulting in forums that are more like massive shows than opportunities to construct radically new social projects. It also saps the potential for pluralism, democratic participation and politicization of our meetings.

We propose a longer interval between events because we cannot afford the risk of draining all the energy we need for the struggle against patriarchy and capitalism, military and economic imperialism, the commodification of our bodies and lives and the cooptation of our rights. More time between Forums would give groups a chance to breathe and replenish themselves in the everyday movement and the diverse experiences of women and men that constitute the fabric of the global resistance movement. In this respect, it is also essential that we adopt the political principle of alternating the meeting location among different countries and regions. The success of the Indian experience, its enrichment of the international process and the opportunities for cooperation it has given to movements in the region leave no doubt of the importance of this principle. More than simply a theory, diversity must be the engine driving our converging movements. The “spirit” of Porto Alegre should be a truly international one.

Last, as the youth camps in particular have affirmed, the process should be a reflection of the world we want to build. After Mumbai, the challenge is to ensure that the unprecedented experience of constructing the World Social Forum—from the streets up to the International Council—more than simply mediation, will be an experience of the ongoing transformation of power relations—between women and men and between life and market forces.

The World March of Women reaffirms its commitment to the World Social Forum’s Charter of Principles and its participation in the Social Movements World Network. We believe this is a legitimate structure for developing campaigns, expanding feminism, and constructing analysis and strategy with all women and men who believe another world is possible because they are creating it every moment.

Julia DiGiovanni – World March of Women - Brazil

INTERNATIONAL NEWS - A Beehive of Activity!

As you know, the WMW International Committee took advantage of the World Social Forum to meet in India in January 2004. The women present were hugely enthusiastic about organizing events as part of the March’s new worldwide mobilization in 2005.

The first thing the Committee did was to spell out the components of the 2004-2006 action plan, in particular the essence of the large-scale mobilizations. You will find out more when you receive the mailing for participating groups in a few weeks. The most difficult work is finished on the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity, and the first draft of it will be distributed shortly.

The next meeting of the International Committee is scheduled for early July 2004 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We’ll keep you posted.

Next Rendezvous in Rwanda

Remember that all national coordinating bodies are expected in Rwanda in December 2004 for the 5th International Meeting of the WMW. This will be a crucial event since it will lead to the adoption of the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity, planned for December 10, Human Rights Day. We want to emphasize most especially the participation of young feminists the world over. Two days of workshops will be held before the meeting to trade ideas and experiences, and gain new energy as a movement and individually.

Tentative Timetable

• December 5 and 6: Training workshops and informal activities
• December 7: Free activities
• December 8 to 12: 5th International Meeting of the WMW

Being Better Organized through Decentralization

All the excitement around organizing the relay march and other activities in 2004-2005 led us to think about how we operate. The decentralization of our structures has produced new working groups and collectives, which are well on their way to being consolidated and have begun their work on the action plan.

Collectives

• Peace and militarization (coordinated by the Great Lakes, Africa)
• Alliances and globalization (coordinated by Brazil)
• Communications (coordinator remains to be decided)

Working Groups

• Feminist economic alternatives (coordinated by Peru)
• Lesbian rights (coordinated by the Netherlands)
• Violence against women and sexual trafficking (coordinated by the Philippines)

In addition, some national coordinating bodies have accepted coordinating responsibilities at the international level. Thus Brazil will take on the world launch of the Charter on March 8, and Burkina Faso will coordinate the world relay of the Charter and the patchwork quilt in 2005. And that’s only the beginning!

Last, the International Secretariat is ready to undertake this new program with a larger and very keen team. The team now consists of Diane Matte, coordinator; Nancy Burrows, liaison officer; Rosa María González, administrative assistant; Luisa Durante, coordinator of working groups and collectives; Julie Bégin, communications officer (temporary); Brigitte Verdière, on contract to write the Charter; and Amalfy Ortega, who will start her contract in April as organizer of the 5th International Meeting of the WMW.

Truly, the March is buzzing with activity. Will we relive the same exulted international mobilization as in the year 2000? We certainly hope so, but to do it we must revitalize our national coordinating bodies and move forward. The prospects look bright!

Julie Bégin, Communications Officer, International Secretariat

REGIONAL ACTIONS

European Coordination Meeting in Portugal

Three weeks after Mumbai, on February 13, 14 and 15, the European Coordination of the World March of Women met in Santo António da Caparica, Almada, Portugal. Twenty-five delegates from nine countries analysed and discussed how the feminists were intervening in the Social Fora – Paris and Mumbai – and with the Social Movements and our tasks for the future.

From the assessment we made of the political situation in our countries and the consequences on women’s lives, we concluded that the neoliberal attack is very strong and that feminist action is urgent. Despite our differences, we have a lot in common. Reflection and action are the two pillars on which the women of the World March should base our activities.

Then, we talked about the mobilization for Vigo, in Galicia. May 22 and 23, this year, the European women intend to give visibility to the World March of Women in Vigo. We hope this will be the second biggest European mobilization of women after Brussels in 2000. (See article below.)

The Vigo event occurs three weeks before the elections for the European Parliament and this mobilization is of great political importance and an important step to reinforce the feminist movement in Europe and also in Galicia since it is being prepared locally with the work of the Galician associations. It is intended to give visibility to the main problems that European women are dealing with – the European Constitution, abortion, violence and immigration – and to show our intention to fight.

Afterwards we discussed the World Actions in 2005: the way each country is preparing its participation, the main problems and how they should be dealt with. The Women’s Global Charter for Humanity and the Global Patchwork Solidarity Quilt should travel along Europe between May and June 2005, while relay marches in each country mobilize women around specific problems between March 8 and October 17. The next European coordination meeting before the International Meeting in Rwanda will draw a detailed plan of this world action of the March of Women.

At the end, the European Coordination voted a motion in solidarity with the popular petition for a referendum to decriminalize abortion that gathered more than 120,000 signatures which are intended to put pressure on the Portuguese Parliament to change a law that forces women to clandestine abortions and to be charged and taken to court.

Almerinda Bento
World March of Women – Portugal

The World March of Women of the Americas Is in Cuba

On January 24 and 25, 2004, 42 women from 15 countries gathered in Havana, Cuba, for the first meeting of the national coordinating bodies of the World March of Women of the Americas.

We talked about building the March in our countries, about our themes and actions, and we got organized for the March’s international actions in 2004 and 2005. We kept our strong points: carry out our own campaigns and others together with the social movements; bring together different sectors such as rural, urban, Black and Native women, women who are unionists, and women from the popular movement. We noted the larger organized presence of young women and lesbians, and the growing respect for our work in the social movements.

We decided to put together a Feminist Charter of the Americas as a counterpoint to the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA), which is synonymous with annexation. Our Charter is based on the contributions by countries in the Americas to the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity. The world relay of the Charter begins on our continent, and we want to hold demonstrations in big cities and in border areas where women from two or more countries can meet.

Our next meeting will be right after the Social Forum of the Americas, to be held July 25 to 30, 2004, in Quito, Ecuador. During the event, we will stage a public action of women against the FTAA, and we suggest that other countries organize an activity to mark a continent-wide day of the March of Women against the FTAA.

We shared experiences, worked hard and had a lot of fun with our Cuban counterparts in the offices of the Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF). We left there armed with tools, ideas, strong ties to one another and committed to act in our respective countries.

Then we took part in the Third Hemispheric Meeting against the FTAA. The World March of Women is widely recognized in the Continental Campaign against the FTAA and in the building of the Social Movements World Network. This recognition was expressed many times as our colleagues gave papers, served as moderators and helped draft the Meeting’s final declaration.

The regional WIDF office and the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) organized the women’s workshop, which we attended, along with over 200 women. There was intense discussion on the reasons to say no to the FTAA and the challenges for movements of confronting the U.S. government’s pressure tactics using bilateral agreements, and financial and military blackmail.

In Cuba we launched our Women of the Americas Newsletter. Our challenge now is to make it as alive as the March is in our countries, with forceful content—as we have expressed with our actions—and that as much information as possible be circulated.

Miriam Nobre– World March of Women – Brazil
Rosa Guillén V. – World March of Women – Peru

To read our newsletter, visit this Web page:
www.sof.org.br/marchamulheres/internacional/BoletimAmericas.pdf
To contact us: marchamericas@sof.org.br

First WMW Mobilization in Galicia
Europe for All Women: Different Yes, Unequal No!

Galicia will host a World March of Women international mobilization on May 22 and 23, 2004: discussion forums, feminist fair, concert and large demonstration.

Vigo will be the venue for the next World March of Women European mobilization. For two days, May 22 and 23, the Galician city will welcome, at the March’s initiative, women who want to raise awareness of feminist alternatives for another Europe. This will be the first of many mobilizations that will be held until 2005 to launch the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity.

Galicia is a small nation within the territory of the Spanish State that just suffered one of the worst ecological disasters in Europe in recent years. The oil tanker Prestige, carrying 77,000 tons of fuel oil, sank spilling its cargo along more than 80% of the Galician coast. The European mobilization, Vigo-2004, will discuss and present the World March of Women’s alternatives for sustainable development.

The mobilization is being held at a political point in time where European women are risking a lot. The patriarchal model in building Europe will be enshrined in a constitution. The model is defined by the interests of economic liberalism, social conservatism and a significant advance of more reactionary and fundamentalist political alternatives.

We feminists have countered this model with another:

We are marching for a pluralist Europe in terms of cultures, beliefs, languages and sexual options; a Europe where individuals and peoples are different but not unequal;

• A Europe that opens its doors, is welcoming and hospitable; that doesn’t discriminate between native-born and immigrant women; that doesn’t throw out people seeking asylum; a place where citizenship is not a right reserved for a minority;
• A Europe committed to the rest of the world, to the environment and development, to the redistribution of wealth and the fight against hunger; a place where profit is not measured in macroeconomic figures but in quality of life and sustainability;
• A Europe respectful of peoples’ right to self-determination; committed to peace and the elimination of arms; with an active policy of preventing and stopping armed conflict;
• A Europe where human rights include economic, social and political rights; where work, housing, education, health and resources are not governed by the economic interests of a minority;
• A Europe committed to doing away with gender inequality;
• A Europe where women’s sexual and reproductive rights, including the right to abortion, are guaranteed in law and in practice;
• A Europe in which gender-based violence, sexist thinking, machismo, the division of labour, the double shift and discrimination disappear from women’s daily lives and governments make a firm commitment to eradicate these forms of injustice;
• A Europe devoid of arrogance and preconceived notions, where equality, justice and solidarity become so common that they are no longer spoken of as distant aspirations;
• A Europe whose priority is to facilitate a life of dignity for all citizens.

We will be visible in Vigo on May 22 and 23.

Program Outline

• Discussion forums
• Ecological sustainability, feminist alternatives
• Feminist contributions to the origin and development of a European constitution
• Women and spirituality, women’s bodies and resistance

Feminist fair: Interactive display on experiences of diverse feminist and women’s groups. The nine themes are: violence, education in equality, immigration, health, abortion and reproductive rights, anti-militarism, sexual freedoms, feminization of poverty and labour rights, young women, and ecology.

Concert with women performers such as Cantareiras de Trasancos, Uxia Senlhe, Pilocha, Mercedes Peom, Tucanas, Amparanoia and Las Niñas.

European women’s demonstration on May 23

For more information: http://www.feminismo.org

Lupe Ces - World March of Women - Galicia

NATIONAL SNAPSHOTS

India – Peace Boat and the World March of Women

The Peace Boat from Tokyo arrived in Chennai Harbour, on October 7, 2003.  Around 50 delegates from various organizations welcomed the boat in India.  The World March was represented by Christina Samy, Bimla & Lidwin from among 17 social activists,  who were on board from India.  The Peace Boat carrying 600 Peace Boat activists and 200 crew left Chennai Harbour on 10th October for Colombo, Sri Lanka.  While at Chennai Harbour, they addressed a Press Conference and a Public Meeting on War, Militarism and the Peace process was also organized.  Major events en route to Colombo included a presentation of social concerns in India and the strategies adopted by the groups; and a theatre play, followed by a discussion on the Indian Woman from childhood to old age.

“We have no results from the 3 ½ wars so far fought between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, we should convert the line of control into a line of Peace” said Peace activist, Admiral Ramu Ramdas, Former Chief of Naval Staff.

Shashi Sail - World March of Women - India

To know more about the Japanese NGO Peace Boat :
pbglobal@peaceboat.gr.jp
Web site : www.peaceboat.org

Peru - Roll Call for Truth and Reconciliation

A large group of women from the World March of Women took part in demonstrations of support for the presentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report on August 27, 2003. On hand were women leaders from various unions, Church organizations from shantytowns and popular neighbourhoods, students and non-governmental organizations such as the Gender and the Economy Group. In different places WMW banners were displayed with slogans, one of which read “For truth in the face of violence.” The report showed us, with data and personal accounts, that among those most affected by the violence that wracked our country for two decades were poor women, women from indigenous communities, and unilingual and illiterate women. It also mentioned many women who died for their convictions and the socially motivated work they did; they died after being raped, tortured or enslaved by groups like Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and then by the army. The Commission has asked for reparations for the victims, their families and communities, who have also faced discrimination, exclusion and poverty and who need to be given development opportunities.

Rosa Guillén V. – World March of Women - Peru

What about you ?

We would be very happy to receive reports of particularly inspiring recent events or upcoming actions of the World March of Women in different countries for publication in the National Snapshots section! Submissions should be 150 words long or less and written in English, French or Spanish.

COLLABORATORS

Thanks to all the women who collaborated on this issue of the Newsletter: Almerinda Bento (Portugal), Julie Bégin (International Secretariat), Elise Boyer (Spanish-English, French-English translation), Nancy Burrows (International Secretariat), Lupe Ces (Galicia), Julia DiGiovanni (Bazil), Rosa Guillén V. (Peru), Nicole Kennedy (French-English translation), Margot Lacroix (English-French translation), Diane Matte (International Secretariat), Miriam Nobre (Brazil), Magaly Sala-Skup (Spanish-French, French-Spanish, English-Spanish translation), Shashi Sail (India) and all the other women who supported our work.