3rd International Meeting - Summary of decisions

The 3rd international meeting of the World March of Women took place from October 2-6 of this year. The goal of the meeting was to consolidate the feminist international action network that was formed to carry out the actions of the World March of Women against Poverty and Violence against Women in 2000.

The national coordinating bodies that were formed for the March were invited to send two delegates in order to determine the basis of the network's actions in upcoming years. Groups in 35 countries answered the call and delegated 45 participants to the meeting. Given the current state of global affairs, we are more than satisfied with the turnout. Roughly 50 other countries manifested their interest in continuing our collective work but were unable to send a delegate for various reasons (financial, visa difficulties, etc.).

In addition, approximately 20 observers from the World March of Women Coordinating Committee and the board of directors of the Fédération des femmes du Québec were present. These are the women who, ever since 1995, have taken up the enormous challenge of uniting women from around the world in collective action.

We are very proud of the results of our meeting. Below, you will find the major points of our discussions and our work plan for the coming year. You may also consult our Web site at www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000 to see photos of this remarkable meeting and read the texts produced over the week.

Peace, justice and equality

The first day of the session was devoted to an analysis of the current context. We wanted to frame our reflection and proposals for the future of the March in light of the current situation of women around the planet, specifically in regards to violence against women and poverty. Given the global situation, we asked delegates from the March coordinating bodies in Pakistan and the United States and a representative from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to give us their opinion of the impact of the September 11 attacks and their aftermath. We wanted, specifically, to discuss the impact of current events on women and on the action of the World March of Women. They all expressed concern about escalating violence, the erosion of human rights and women's rights, constantly rising religious fundamentalism, and the daily tragedies of Afghan women and other victims of armed conflict. Each speaker spoke of the urgent need to join forces so that women's voices are heard on the subject of building and preserving peace.

After the presentations, the women present decided to write a statement, which you have in the Appendix, calling for peace and the construction of a world marked by equality, cooperation, democracy and peace. This statement was used at the peace vigils we had previously decided to organize on Friday, October 5. Groups in 15 countries took up this action and continue to mobilize women in the their countries against war.

We also invited speakers to present a brief portrait of the current issues at stake in the struggles against poverty and violence against women. Once again, the current climate influenced our discussions. It is more urgent than ever that feminists seize every opportunity to express our vision of society, including an economic model where fundamental rights take precedence over profit and sharing the wealth is a basic precept. In the struggle against poverty, it is important to remember that the constantly growing gap between rich and poor and men and women signifies both abominable living conditions and fertile ground for despair and intolerance. As for the struggle against violence against women, the marginalization of women, our voices and our rights, especially in the current context, is cause for grave concern. Women who do not conform to the established model or who demand recognition of their rights and citizenship are increasingly becoming the targets of fundamentalists of all stripes. The World March of Women is clearly as pertinent as ever and constitutes an essential vehicle for analysis and mobilization for women's movements.

Goals were met

Although a year has gone by since our meetings with decision-makers at the UN, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, we took time to review the international actions of 2000. These meetings marked a turning point in terms of women's desire to be heard at the highest levels. Our satisfaction was mitigated, though, by the polite but unforthcoming response of our interlocutors. This said, these meetings constituted a first step and we must continue to be a presence. The March's main gains are its reinforcement of international feminist solidarity, of collective action that draws on the strength of women's diversity, and of our conviction that we can and must act globally and locally to exert the pressure needed to end poverty and violence against women. The actions of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 were successful. Success can be assessed as much in terms of the reinforcement of women's movements as in concrete political gains. We plan to produce a summary report that makes the link between the national and international actions.

Obstacles to success

We experienced diverse problems of an organizational nature. For many groups, it was difficult to raise the funds necessary to generate substantial participation of women at the grassroots. Our plans were much grander than our means. Other women succeeded in obtaining support from new quarters. A number of women consider that the March enabled groups with no prior experience of working together to unite in action.

One of the values and goals of the World March of Women was to involve women at the grass-roots level. This was achieved in most countries and territories, but success was also variable depending on the practices of women's movements in each country. Even though we adhered to a principle of inclusiveness, some women considered themselves to be excluded by the choices of their coordinating bodies. It is clear that the desire to recognize and work with our differences remains central to the March.

The World March of Women continues

The 3rd international meeting of the World March of Women allowed us to consolidate and affirm the will to create a feminist international action network centred on the struggles against poverty and violence against women. We also adopted or reaffirmed the following goals:

1- Strengthen and maintain a vast solidarity movement of grass-roots women's groups so that the March constitutes a gesture of affirmation by women of the world.

2- Promote equality between women and men and between peoples.

3- Support a vast process of popular education so that all women can analyze for themselves the causes of their oppression, and imagine possible alternatives.

4- To highlight the common demands and alternatives issuing from global women's movements on the local, national, regional and international levels, relating to the issues of poverty and violence against women.

5- a) Bring political pressure to bear on governments and multilateral political institutions (e.g., the UN) so that they institute the changes necessary for improving the status of women and women's quality of life globally, and so that they pursue a disarmament and peaceful conflict resolution policy.

b) Challenge the international financial, economic and military institutions (IMF, NATO, WTO, WB, etc.) responsible for impoverishing and marginalizing women and intensifying the violence committed against us, and formulate proposals for alternative institutions.

6- Convince the general public, other social sectors and social movements to institute the changes necessary for improving the status of women and women's quality of life the world over.

International demands and actions

We used the occasion of our 3rd international meeting to update our world demands. These demands, 17 in number, inspired all our actions in 2000, and, with only minor exceptions, they remain relevant. We formed several work groups that will monitor specific demands with a view to advancing them or producing internal information documents to help us further our analysis. One working group, for example, is responsible for studying an alternative economic model that reflects our analysis and would enable women and their communities to find a permanent, structural solution to poverty. The Italian coordinating body heads this group. The Québec coordinating body has agreed to produce a document to assist other coordinating bodies in continuing their reflection on the repression of lesbians. Finally, a third work group, headed by the Indian coordinating body, will address the issue of violence against women.

We discussed actions that we would like to organize in the short term. First, we want to continue organizing to ensure that women's voices are heard calling for peace, justice and equality. An action to support Afghan women is anticipated in the near future. Two international conferences have attracted our attention and are scheduled in the coming year: the 2nd World Social Forum in Porto Alegre and the UN Conference on Financing for Development. Two work groups were formed to assure the participation of the March in these meetings. We hope to participate in large numbers, armed with a specific message. The Brazilian and Mexican coordinating bodies, respectively, are responsible for these work groups.

A decision-making structure and another rendezvous

A committee was chosen at the end of the meeting to assure follow-up to the 3rd international meeting. Committee members are: Miriam Nobre, Brazil, Shashi Sail, India, Mathilde Kayitesi, Rwanda, Michèle Spieler, Switzerland, Leonor Concha, Mexico, Emily Naffa, Jordan, a representative of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women, Vivian Barbot, president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec and Diane Matte, coordinator of the March. Nominated for a one-year mandate, these women will assure follow-up until our next meeting, to be held in Mexico in 2002, when we will adopt an operating structure. This transitional decisional structure replaces the International Liaison Committee and the World March of Women Coordinating Committee.

Lessons and challenges

The 3rd international meeting of the World March of Women was rich in learning and an occasion for identifying the new challenges facing us all. Throughout the week, we had to adjust our expectations in order to permit ourselves the time we needed to achieve a consensus or clearly define the issues at stake. Some discussions were difficult, but they were all conducted constructively, with the desire to preserve the March network. We concluded the meeting more determined than ever to continue our work and understanding better what women in diverse countries expect of this network. Of course, the challenges facing us, especially the financial survival of the March secretariat, were brought into sharp relief. Some issues remain touchy (lesbian rights and the right to abortion, for example), but we advanced a step further in our discussions. We can thus continue the work of educating each about our respective situations and reflecting this in our international actions.