Forgot your password?
The March on the March
Montreal, May 31th 2000 - Five years ago, the "Bread and Roses" women's march brought 15,000 women to the National Assembly in Québec City, Canada, to demand measures to combat poverty and improve women's quality of life. It was also five years ago that Beijing hosted the fourth World Conference on Women; the Conference’s Platform for Action is to be evaluated in June during a special session of the UN’s General Assembly.
In five years, the status of women has deteriorated. They form the majority of the 1.5 billion people who live on 1$ US per day or less. Primary victims of the International Monetary Fund’s structural adjustment programs, they are more likely to experience illiteracy, and are the first to suffer from a lack of access to social services, good health, water, land, housing and education. They are also the main victims of war, violence, rape, and sex trafficking.
In response, women’s groups, community organizations and labour unions are mobilizing to protest this abuse and denounce free-trade agreements, criticize the big economic institutions and demand measures to combat oppression. The World March of Women is part of this movement.
The World March of Women is demanding concrete measures from the UN and its
member States to:
As of today, 4400 groups in 153 countries throughout the world have signed
up. Women are on the march in all these countries. On May 6, in Burkina Faso,
10,000 women rallied and presented the March demands to the president and prime
minister of the country. The president of Burkina Faso announced the creation of
a national forum so that women’s delegations can meet with the government of
Burkina to discuss measures to be implemented in terms of the women’s demands
concerning poverty and violence against women. Women in Niger marched on May 12,
and then read out and submitted the national platform of demands to the
president of the Republic in front of the entire government. In the Central
African Republic, the march was held on May 19. The prime minister, Anicet
Georges Dologuelle, met with the women and affirmed his total support for the
March. He stated his aim for a steady implementation of measures designed to
improve women’s living conditions.
In Romania, Peru, Spain and many other countries, women held actions to
publicize the national and world demands of the March.
The June calendar of major actions organized by participating groups is
provided below. We will be happy to give you further information regarding the
actions and demands of the World March of Women.
Public relations
The World March of Women in the Year
2000
Phone 1 (514) 395-1196
Fax : 1 (514) 395-1224
Last modified 2006-04-25 11:25 AM
This item is available in
Français, English, Español
