After Its Relay Round the Planet, the Women's Global Charter for Humanity Gets a New Start
OUAGADOUGOU, October 18,
2005. Close to 4000 people were present at the end of the Relay of the Women's
Global Charter for Humanity on October 17, here in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Hundreds of women from Ouagadougou and the provinces mobilized to attend the
event. Also present were delegations from South Africa, Benin, Ghana, Guinea,
Mali, Niger and many women from the Basque Country, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil,
Cuba, France, Galicia, Haiti, Italy, India, Jordan, Netherlands, Peru, Québec
and Switzerland.
The women marched through
the city singing and shouting slogans, demanding the application of the values
contained in the Charter: freedom, equality, solidarity, justice and peace.
The march ended with a naming ceremony of the Place de la Femme pour la
Paix (Women’s Peace Square), in the centre of Ouagadougou. The officials
present and the members of the March International Committee, representing the
different regions of the world, released doves and displayed the solidarity
patchwork quilt. The quilt consists of approximately 60 squares made by women
during the Relay to illustrate the values contained in the Charter. The
diversity of the squares mirrors the diversity of the members of the March.
Awa Ouédraogo, the March coordinator in Burkina Faso, pointed out that
the last leg of the Relay took place in her country to underscore the poverty
and violence experienced by women there. With the international delegation present
in Ouagadougou as witnesses, she demanded “the presence of 20% women in the
next government and 30% of elected members to the legislative assembly
following the elections scheduled for 2006.”
“The Charter is a tool that we want to use to make governments and
international institutions move, to work with our allies, to change women’s
lives in concrete ways, to change the world,” International Secretariat
coordinator Diane Matte added.
This is why the March decided to designate certain women, women’s groups
or social movements as keepers of the Charter. Egyptian writer Nawal El Saddawi
will be the keeper of the Charter on behalf of the value “equality.”
The peasant movement Via Campesina, fighting for fair land distribution,
a real land reform and food sovereignty, is a keeper of the Charter because of
its commitment to build another world and the value of “solidarity.”
For the value of “peace,” the March gave the Charter to the Women in
Black network. Founded by Jewish and Palestinian women opposed to the Israeli
occupation of Palestine and the militarization of the region, this movement now
exists throughout the world. It is made up of women fighting against conflicts
in the world and against the violence women are subjected to during those conflicts.
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate and opposed to the
dictatorship ruling her country, received the Charter for her commitment to
“freedom.”
Last, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, in Argentina, who for 30
years have been demanding that justice be done for their loved ones who
disappeared, are keepers of Charter in the name of the value of “justice.”
Other individuals and groups will be identified subsequently, thereby
giving the Charter a new start.
These events took place while actions were held in support of the
Women's Global Charter for Humanity all over the planet, at noon, thereby
forming a 24-hour wave of solidarity.
Moreover, to mark their active solidarity with the women of Burkina
Faso, women of the March from all over the world chipped in to grant a
scholarship to a young Burkinan woman to study journalism and communications.
Women writers, journalists and feminist activists sent us their thoughts
in essays on the Charter. Fina d’Armada (Portugal), Nawal El Saddawi (Egypt),
Ghislaine Sathoud (Congo-Brazzaville), Florence Montreynaud (France) and Luz
Piedad Caceido (Colombia) accepted to have their
writings published on this Web site. Other articles are in preparation.
For more information, photos or interviews, please contact Brigitte
Verdière, communications officer, World March of Women,
bverdiere@marchemondiale.org
Last modified 2005-12-22 09:21 AM
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