4th International Meeting - Proposals

Introduction

The 4th international meeting of the World March of Women will take place in New Delhi, India, from March 18–22, 2003. The priority of this meeting is to adopt a strategic action plan leading up to 2005 and a structure for our feminist global action network to resist poverty and violence against women. On the following pages you will find the proposals that will be discussed with delegates attending the meeting. The Follow-up Committee formulated the proposals based on a compilation of comments and proposals sent in from the 30 national coordinating bodies that responded to our first working document of July 2002, and on discussions held during the Committee’s last meeting, December 2–6, 2002, in Montreal. We encourage you to study these proposals in another meeting of members of your national coordinating body and give your delegates a mandate that will enable us to reach the broadest possible consensus in India. We stress that your participation in this 4th international meeting is urgently required; the deadline for registering your delegates and paying your registration fees is February 7. Each proposal (appearing in italics) is preceded by an informative introduction. Some of the agenda points are not associated with a formal proposal; in these cases we present the questions that need to be debated. Please tells us of anything that raises significant problems for you by March 10; this will help us finalize the agenda. We wish you a fruitful preparation and look forward to working with you during the meeting in India.

I - Strategic action plan

We believe that the 21st century began with two major global events: the World March of Women and the World Social Forum of Porto Alegre. As citizens of the world, we are determined to ensure that people everywhere enjoy full human rights and gender equality; we want to ensure that cultural diversity and pluralism and environmental protection are cherished values planet-wide. In short, we believe that together we can build another world.

In October 2001 we decided to organize another feminist international action in 2005. We did so because we think it is crucial to win some victories in our struggle against poverty and violence and women; we must insist on tangible results from our countries’ governments and international political and economic leaders concerning implementation of the World March of Women’s national and world demands. We also wish to mark some progress, in tandem with other social movements, in the construction of the world “in which we want to live.”

We need to devise a strategic action plan for the World March of Women leading up to 2005. This plan should allow us to establish our common vision; identify the gains we want to achieve; determine who we wish to address; identify our allies; and adopt the actions required for achieving our ends. The agenda of the 4th international meeting is designed to enable us to build this plan; but the Follow-up Committee has come up with several questions that national coordinating bodies should discuss beforehand so that our discussions and debates will be as full and rich as possible.

What we want to obtain in 2005

Clearly, we need to win a few tangible victories. The question is, how? Guided by our analysis of the current situation, should we give priority to one or two of the world demands, for instance, Third World debt cancellation? Or the effective implementation of the CEDAW Protocol? Or implementation of the International Convention Against Land Mines? Should we organize annual international actions leading up to 2005 focussing on specific themes? Should we organize particular campaigns of denunciation? Or make more effective use of the media? Should we act in solidarity with women living in areas of conflict or war by taking concrete actions? Should we assign responsibility for an annual international action to a continent or region on a rotating basis? In the current context, and based on our goal of addressing international military organizations, should we organize a March action specifically about the war? Should we address NATO or the United States government?

Who we are addressing:

1) The UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization (WTO).

We must evaluate and decide if:

a) we want to ask for another meeting and demand direct answers to the world demands the March presented to multilateral organizations in 2000. If we decide to do this, what kind of response are we calling for? How do we do it? For instance, should we confront each multilateral organization with the concrete results of their economic policies? Should we also meet with WTO leaders?

b) we do not wish to meet with them, because in a way they have already answered us by maintaining the policies. If we decide to take this approach, how should we continue the struggle to win our world demands? Should we organize a civil disobedience action in front of their Washington offices? And in Geneva, if we add the WTO? Or should we go to their regional branches? Or elsewhere in the world?

Regarding our relationship with the United Nations:

Should we adopt a different strategy to the one for the other multilateral agencies, because the UN is composed of elected governments, while the WTO, for example, lacks the legitimacy of having democratically elected representatives?

How and with what intensity do we wish to target this global organization?

What should our strategy be concerning the 5th World Conference on Women proposed for 2005 (Beijing +10)? Should we participate? What should our strategy be with respect to a possible parallel meeting? With respect to UNIFEM?

Do we want to support the establishment of an autonomous global feminist meeting, as some groups are proposing, while maintaining our own action in 2005?

2) Our respective national governments with respect to the 17 world demands of the WMW.

Each national coordinating body (NC) in participating countries and each world region is responsible for devising their own strategic action plan based on their own political situations. We nonetheless think it is important to carry out collective strategic actions based on a commonly agreed on action plan with the aim of advancing the world demands. Should we propose that every country or region carry out actions linked to the world demands? (Example of a possible action): during G8 or OECD meetings, the NCs of industrialized countries could meet their respective governments to demand Third World debt cancellation or the participation of women in designing public policy).

Our alliances

3) Regional and international feminist networks campaigning against neoliberal globalization and proposing alternative actions or models.

We have to assess and decide how we want to work with allied networks with the aim of furthering a common feminist world vision and translating it into action, on equal footing and respecting each organization’s autonomy.

We need to decide, among other things, if it is relevant and necessary to:

participate in meetings, conferences, seminars or actions organized by allied feminist networks;

propose joint meetings focussed on themes of common interest, for instance: strategies regarding forms of right-wing, religious, political and military fundamentalism; economic alternatives, impunity of perpetrators or sex trafficking, etc.

conduct joint actions;

explore possible common or complementary strategies (for example, the participation or non-participation in multilateral organizations, organization of civil disobedience actions, participation or non-participation in UN conferences, etc.).

We should discuss the issue of participation in the 5th UN World Conference on Women in 2005 with allied feminist networks.

4) Allied organizations, regional and international, in particular the World Social Forum, in which the WMW has been an active participant since its inception; regional and thematic forums.

We need to assess and decide how we are going to work and organize joint actions with these allied regional and international networks, which, among other things will require:

assessing and determining our participation in organizing the next world and regional social forums and the Social Movements World Network;

actively publicizing alternative and feminist ideas for an egalitarian world and persuading allied networks to adopt women’s demands and programs and incorporate them into their own struggles;

choosing the regional and international organizations with whom we want to establish alliances.

II – Action proposal for 2005

Considering:

the urgent need to propose economic, political, social and cultural alternatives to make another world possible—one that is founded on gender equality and equality of all human beings and peoples, and the respect of our planet’s environment;

the necessity to debate our visions of this other world among ourselves as women and with allied organizations, locally, nationally, regionally and internationally;

For 2005, the Follow-up Committee proposes:

1) to draft a Feminist Charter for Humanity. In other words, that we women take the initiative of proposing the outline of a charter for another world based on universal and feminist values. The text could draw on the 17 world demands of the March for the formulation of alternative proposals. It could be inspired by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and take a step forward for the progress of humanity. The March’s International Committee would be responsible for drafting the Feminist Charter for Humanity. It should be completed by October 2004 and adopted by all participating countries at an international meeting.

2) to organize an international relay march, from one world region to the other, from one country to another or one village to another. A relay march would enable greater participation of women from different countries. The Charter would be the relay object to be passed along. Women participating in the relay march could organize events to make the Charter known. The start of the relay march could be March 8, 2005.

3) to create an immense quilt. In the course of the relay march, women would be invited to illustrate the Charter on a piece of cloth, based on their particular situation. The pieces of cloth would be relayed from place to place with the Charter. Women in countries, cities or villages would receive pieces of cloth from women in other world regions. All the pieces of cloth would be assembled and an immense quilt would then be used during a world rally in October 2005. This rally could be held in one of the poorest countries of the planet.

Coordination of the Action:

The action would be organized at three levels to ensure its international character.

1- The national level. Organization would be the responsibility of the national coordinating bodies.

2- The regional level. The starting point, the various relay points and the arrival point would be determined by the international meeting in India in March 2003, based on criteria to be defined at that time.

3- The international level. Two possibilities:

- Agree on a meeting point for delegates from around the world following the various relay marches.

- A simultaneous action at the regional level marking the conclusion of the different relay marches.

III – Working groups

Working groups were created with the aim of furthering our thinking and creating tools to support national coordinating bodies and the international Secretariat of the World March of Women. Three groups have been created since 2001 to advance and update the debate on our demands platform. The Feminist Economic Alternatives working group has the mandate to further our thinking on the causes of poverty and the invisibility of women’s work and contribution to the economy, in relation to our poverty demands. The Violence Against Women working group has the mandate to expand on our 2000 demands concerning this issue. This group wishes to examine the role of neoliberal globalization in maintaining and even aggravating violence against women. The Rights of Lesbians working group was created as a compromise solution when there was an impasse on this issue at the last international meeting. Initially, this group decided to create popular education tools to aid national coordinating bodies (NC) in their discussions with participating groups. To this end, the working group sent the NCs a questionnaire and a process for facilitating discussion. The responses that came back give us an initial overview of the state of the debate around the world.

The Internet working group was created to evaluate the potential of new technologies as a tool for circulating information and mobilization among other things in relation to our desire to act as an alert network capable of taking quick action in response to extreme violations of women’s rights. The group drafted a questionnaire on Internet use that was sent to NCs with the first working paper for the 4th international meeting; the responses were then compiled.

In the case of the Alert Network working group its work was limited to issuing action calls on our discussion list. Since this represents one of our three lines of intervention, we should review the manner in which we want to accomplish this work.

The two other lines of intervention of the WMW: our joint action with the anti-globalization movement and participation in international forums, particularly those organized by the UN, also resulted in the creation of working groups with the mandate of organizing our presence in specific events. A working group was created for the UN Conference on Financing for Development that took place in Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002. The working group produced a text that was distributed in the workshops it organized for the parallel forum. A working group was also created to prepare our participation in the World Social Forum. This working group worked with many participants and prepared our activities at the second WSF held in January 2002 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The World Social Forum is no longer just an annual event. During 2002 regional forums were held in at least three world regions as part of a worldwide decentralization process. The World March of Women participated in the International Council of the WSF and in different national or regional groupings of the WSF in Brazil, India and Italy. The European coordinating body of the March was the main feminist network involved in organizing the European social forum. The intense activity of the WSF led the working group to surpass its initial role; over the months it became a collective that made a number of important decisions.

After over a year of operations, we assessed the working groups and came up with several points and definitions to submit to the international meeting in India. The main problem we observed is the varying levels of activity. Some groups hardly functioned at all as a group. They relied entirely on the initiative of the international Secretariat. The WSF working group was, on the contrary, extremely active. It made a number of decisions, however, that should have been made by a WMW coordinating body. It is normal to experience problems of this nature when we are in a period of transition and definition of our coordination mechanisms. We must avoid the risk of these groups functioning in isolation from the national coordinating bodies. If, for example, a working group is so active that it draws on a large amount of the international Secretariat’s time and energy, that subject becomes our sole focus. We then risk losing world regions where women are not involved in this working group or where there is another priority. How can we maintain the positive aspects of this situation and, in particular, continue furthering our goal concerning neoliberal globalization and alliances?

Our proposals:

1. Work with two kinds of groups (having distinct functions and composition): working groups and collectives.

2. The working groups would be created during International Meetings or through a decision of the International Committee. They would be responsible for issues and discussions we want to explore and ensuring circulation of our thinking among national coordinating bodies via the Secretariat.

2a. Their responsibilities:

- determine the focus to develop and identify individuals and networks working on these topics with whom we could organize collective actions;

- identify events and occasions where a topic may be discussed or debated; and set an agenda with priorities with the aim of assuring the participation of March activists in these activities

- to produce and circulate papers for information and debate via E-mail or through March publications;

- to propose and carry out training activities.

2b. Their composition and functioning:

One member of the International Committee would be responsible for the working group and the other members would be invited to participate according to their interest in the topic or the ease of work (for example working in one language only or with members from one or two world regions). The working group would report on their activities to the Secretariat and to the International Committee.

2c. We propose that the following working groups be maintained: feminist economic alternatives, violence against women and rights of lesbians. (work proposals for the coming year are included below).

3. Collectives: would be formed during the International Meetings with a mandate to intervene in specific processes to support the International Committee and Secretariat.

3a. Their responsibilities:

- ensure the World March of Women representation in various forums;

-contribute to analysis and the identification of individuals, groups and networks active in the same area;

- produce information materials and reports on their activities and political debates in their field of action;

- promote seminars, training activities and meetings.

3b. Their composition and functioning:

Collectives would be composed of at least one woman from each major world region who has an interest in and conducts actions related to the topic in question. A member of the International Committee and the Secretariat would share responsibility for collectives. Collectives would report on their activities to the Secretariat, the International Committee and International Meetings.

3c. We propose that the World Social Forum working group become a collective and that its mandate be broadened to include the Social Movements World Network. We propose that two new collectives be formed: one on communications (replacing the Internet and Alert network working groups) and one on peace and armed conflict.

4. Proposed activities for working groups and collectives in the coming year:

a. Working group on feminist economic alternatives: further feminist analysis respecting economic alternatives; publish the texts and seminar debates from the 2003 WSF concerning the relationship between production and reproduction and the concept of wealth; maintain dialogue with closely allied networks; update our demands platform and draw up action proposals incorporating the WTO, FTAA, NEPAD and other regional neoliberal agreements.

b. Working group on violence against women: further advance the discussion to support our action strategies that link the local and international levels especially those that target violence prevention and support for women to leave violent situations; study the relationship between neoliberal globalization and violence against women; publish texts and debates from the 2003 WSF seminar on the commodification of women’s bodies; further our knowledge and propose actions concerning sex trafficking.

c. Working group on the rights of lesbians: gather information and make it available to national coordinating bodies; identify and form links between the WMW and activists around the world; organize a training seminar on the topic.

d. Alliances and Globalization collective: organize our participation in future World Social Forums, including mobilization, production of information materials and organization of activities; participate in the International Council; encourage national and regional coordinating bodies to become involved in national and regional processes of the WSF; monitor meetings of other social movements; coordinate the March’s participation in actions and meetings of the Social Movements World Network; ensure ongoing evaluation and follow-up of the process of both the WSF and the Social Movements World Network.

e. Communications collective: ensure that information circulates between the Secretariat, the International Committee and national coordinating bodies; produce an international newsletter with responsibility shared among regions; assess and work to improve communications with participating groups; update and improve our Web site; develop an action policy for our alert network; develop a communications plan for 2005.

f. Collective on Peace and Armed Conflict: develop a WMW intervention policy in this area; ensure the participation of the WMW in actions to oppose militarism and the multiple armed conflicts, etc.; produce analytical and information materials on these issues.

IV - Working group on Lesbian Rights

At the last World March International Meeting there was a debate on whether or not the country-by-country adoption process of the demands V-10 and V-11 concerning rights of lesbians should be withdrawn. As a result of this debate the following proposal was adopted.

“between now and the next meeting of the World March of Women all national coordinating bodies agree to make every possible effort to consult March participating groups in their countries on the repeal of the special “country-by-country” adhesion to demands V-10 and V-11. The March agrees to provide the tools required to support the debate.”

Some coordinating bodies specifically requested tools to be able to start the discussion about these demands. At the meeting it was decided to set up a working group to develop tools for this purpose to be able to continue the education process on this topic and further discuss the country-by-country adhesion process.

The working group realized in the early stages of its work that this was a difficult task especially because it is not realistic to think that one unique popular education tool (about this topic or any other for that matter) could be adapted to all contexts and societies. The working group is also very aware of the different approaches and difficulties of discussing the issue of sexual orientation in some parts of the world and at the same time the importance of these demands being supported by the World March as a whole.

Therefore the working group decided to send out to the WMW coordinating bodies the existing information document on lesbian rights, accompanied with questions to help guide discussions at the national level and encourage continued dialogue on this subject on all levels (national and international). The working group has requested more time for research and to get more in-depth information (both on the realities of lesbians around the world and the context and obstacles in countries where this topic is such a difficult one), to further develop analysis on this topic and to further the education process within the World March in order to develop tools for long-term use.

1. The Follow-Up Committee proposes that we do not discuss the country-by-country adhesion process to the V-10 and V-11 demands at the India Meeting. It is proposed that the working group on rights of lesbians continue its work with a mandate of developing an action plan to further its research and continue to develop an education and dialogue process on this issue within the March.

V - STRUCTURE PROPOSALS FOR THE WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN

The structure that was adopted in 2001 for the World March of Women was a temporary one. As you remember, we had a number of differences of opinion concerning the role of certain bodies and fears that our structure would be formal and hierarchal in nature. The World March of Women is first and foremost a movement that by definition places a priority on action and that encourages the autonomy of its members. We act together because this multiplies our impact and enriches our analysis. We want an operational and decision-making structure that is flexible, clear and effective. The proposals below will allow us to organize the 2005 actions and consolidate our work and the March as an entity with respect to our allies, funding agencies, etc. It would be advisable to review our structure after 2005.

1) International Meeting (text in italics will be proposed for adoption)

1a) The International Meeting functions as a general assembly and the broadest decision-making structure of the World March of Women. The meeting is open to delegations of national coordinating bodies; the meeting location will rotate among the major world regions.

1b) It is proposed that there be an international meeting at least once every two years; the dates will be set based on the March’s agenda and actions.

To assure balanced representation of participating countries/territories:

1c) It is proposed a maximum of three delegates represent each national coordinating body at the International Meeting. Countries/territories having more than one coordinating body are requested to respect the maximum of three representatives. The March network of Indigenous women will be the only exception; it will be considered as a national coordinating body and requested to send three delegates to the International Meeting. Participating groups having no coordinating body are invited to form a coordination structure in order to participate in the meeting.

1d) The quorum of the International Meeting is composed of the attending members with a minimum of 20 countries/territories and three world regions.

Decisions will be made by consensus. In situations where consensus cannot be reached:

1e) It is proposed that each national coordinating body (or country/territory in the event of more than one coordinating body) be entitled to one vote. To be adopted, a proposal must obtain the support of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the national coordinating bodies present. When there is an equal vote or a significant regional disparity in the vote, the Meeting’s Agenda Committee will be asked to propose a solution or solutions.

To assure our continued collaboration on actions with other feminist networks or social movements around the world:

1f) It is proposed that we invite allied international networks to send women to attend the International Meeting as observers (for the entire meeting, or parts of the meeting, depending on the situation). In addition, members of the women’s movement in the country hosting the meeting will be invited to attend as observers. The International Committee will determine the number of observers.

1g) The International Meeting is the body that determines our general policies. The members assembly has the following responsibilities, among others:

- to adopt changes to the world platform

- to decide on international actions (with a prior consultation process)

- to evaluate our structure and the general functioning of the International Committee

- to elect the International Committee

- to adopt financial statements

- to choose the location of the Secretariat

- to create collectives based on needs arising out of our action plan

- to form working groups (with the International Committee)

- to take public stands on political topics (with the International Committee or national coordinating bodies, depending on whether the subject is national or international in scope)

2) National coordinating bodies

2a) The creation and maintenance of national coordinating bodies of participating groups of the March in countries/territories is to be encouraged. National coordinating bodies constitute our organizational foundation; they are autonomous with regards to their functioning and national policies and actions. National coordinating bodies, like all the bodies of the March, should function in conformance with the principles and values of the World March of Women. The International Committee and the Secretariat will intervene only if there is a major violation of the principles and values of the World March of Women, or at the request of participating groups in the country/territory concerned.

2b) The responsibilities of the national coordinating bodies are, as well as their national work:

- to carry out at the national level popular education, mobilization activities and actions adopted by International Meetings of the March;

- to take public stands on political questions;

- to communicate with participating groups (in coordination with the Secretariat);

- to implement policies and decisions made by International Meetings (with the Secretariat and the International Committee);

- participate in working groups and collectives formed at the international level.

3) Participating groups

3a) Participating groups should function in conformance with the principles and values of the World March of Women. Groups eligible to participate in the World March of Women: women’s organizations and women’s committees of mixed groups. Mixed organizations that have no women’s committee but in which women hold leadership for the March project may also join the World March as a participating group. The March is particularly interested in reaching women from grass-roots groups. Political parties and governmental bodies may not be members of the World March of Women. Groups relate to the international structure through their national coordinating bodies. Participating groups who, for whatever reason, are not members of their national coordinating body, are strongly encouraged to involve themselves in this structure.

Although it can be complicated to manage numerous membership lists, the fact that a number of national coordinating bodies have no means of ensuring regular contact with participating groups motivates the following proposal:

3b) It is proposed that memberships continue to be received by both national coordinating bodies and the international Secretariat directly. These two bodies will ensure the circulation of March information and documentation.

Communications between these two levels is important to ensure that all lists are up-to-date, allowing for the best possible circulation of information.

4) National coordinating bodies

Some world regions or sub-regions have decided to group together to carry out regional actions or coordinate actions on a particular subject. We encourage the formation of such coordinating groups as they multiply the impact of our action and are reflective of diverse political situations. Depending on the actions we adopt during our meeting in India, we will work to facilitate the creation of other regional coordinating bodies.

5) International Committee

The International Committee will be composed of elected representatives from the different world regions. This committee will meet twice each year and will function in a collective manner. Committee members will share tasks. Their role will be both to ensure regional representation and to defend the overall interests of the March.

COMPOSITION

5a) It is proposed that the Committee be composed of 11 members. Committee members will be selected according to the following regional representation:

ELECTIONS

Many have raised the importance of ensuring continuity on the Committee; also, while it is true that the geographical representativeness of the Committee must be ensured, members must represent the March in its overall aspect. In order to allow as many women as possible from the national coordinating bodies to signify their interest in representing their region, and to take into account the fact that not all regions have regional coordinating bodies:

5b) It is proposed that candidates for election be proposed initially by their national coordinating body, where possible, and then to their respective regions. Regions are invited to submit more candidates than there are available positions. All delegates to the International Meeting will then vote for all Committee members. Voting will be by secret ballot.

TERM

5c) It is proposed that the term be an individual one and that it last from one International Meeting to the next, for a maximum of two years. Terms will be renewable twice up to a total of six years. Candidates may present themselves again after a two-year period.

SELECTION CRITERIA

5d) Activists proposed for membership on the International Committee must meet the following general criteria:

The responsibilities of the International Committee will be, among other things:

5e) to carry out policy and decisions made by International Meetings and report to this body (with the Secretariat and the national coordinating bodies);

6) The Secretariat

There was a mixed response to this section of the questionnaire. With respect to the functioning of the Secretariat, there is consensus that it should be participative. Opinions on whether to rotate the Secretariat are not conclusive, however.

A majority (58%) want the Secretariat to rotate. Half of these state that rotation should begin after the 2005 world actions and the other half want rotation to start following the India meeting (with a period of transition). Women stating a preference for rotation acknowledge the inevitability of logistical and administrative problems. In addition, there was concern that the next country to host the Secretariat should have the optimal conditions for hosting and supporting it.

Women who want the Secretariat to remain in Quebec (42% of questionnaire respondents) list stability, institutional memory and the maintenance and acknowledgement of Quebec’s initiative as their main reasons. Some mention the idea of creating regional offices or regional March coordinating bodies in all regions to organize the actions and assist the international Secretariat.

While we recognize the importance of rotation, we are also aware of the impact of changing the location of the Secretariat before the actions of 2005; we therefore propose that:

6a) The international Secretariat of the World March of Women remain in Quebec until after the actions of 2005.

6b) At the International Meeting following the actions of 2005, we choose the site of the next Secretariat after evaluating the impact of rotation and the proposals of countries/territories desiring to host the Secretariat.

As for the functioning of the international Secretariat, we propose the following general principles:

6c) The international Secretariat will be located in the country or countries designated by the International Meeting. However, national coordinating bodies interested in hosting the Secretariat must signal their interest as soon as possible to the International Committee. This question will be discussed at each International Meeting, accompanied by a detailed report on work accomplished and an assessment of the forecasted impact.

6d) Criteria for hosting the international Secretariat are:

6e) The Secretariat is composed of a minimum of four employees. Job descriptions for each employee and annual work plans are developed with the International Committee.

6f) The international Secretariat will operate in a collective manner and be supported by International Committee members in carrying out their work.

The responsibilities of the international Secretariat are, among other things:

6g) - to execute the policies and decisions made by International Meetings (with the national coordinating bodies and the International Committee);

6h) The coordinator has a statutory role as World March of Women spokeswoman and representative, but she shares this responsibility with other members of the work team, the International Committee and the collectives.

6i) The coordinator is hired by the International Committee for a term of four (4) years with the possibility of renewal.

7) Funding of the World March of Women

Funding of our actions and for our operational needs continues to be a major element in the consolidation of the World March of Women. We will present you with budget estimates at the meeting in India and a funding plan will be developed following that meeting. We believe that national coordinating bodies should contribute to ensuring the stability of the March’s core operation. For this reason the Follow-up Committee proposes:

7a) that national coordinating bodies financially support work accomplished at the international level by contributing the equivalent of 5% of their national budget to the international Secretariat.

VI – WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN DECLARATION OF VALUES - January 2003 (Working Document)

The 21st century began with two major global events: the World March of Women and the World Social Forum. These two actions quickly extended beyond the actual events and became processes leading toward the fundamental transformation of our societies in opposition to neoliberal globalization that accentuates gender inequality and the gap between rich and poor and generates ever increasing exclusion, hatred and intolerance.

In its struggle for the elimination of poverty and violence against women, the World March of Women illustrates the resolve of citizens of the world to ensure that people planet-wide enjoy full human rights and gender equality; that women’s work and social role are properly recognized; that cultural diversity and pluralism and environmental protection are respected; and that peace is constructed. In short, we believe that together we can and must build another world.

We believe that as feminists we urgently need to propose the economic, political, social and cultural alternatives that will make this “other world” possible. We believe it is necessary to debate our visions of this “other world” among ourselves as women and with allied organizations, locally, nationally, regionally and internationally. This is why we believe it is important to ally with other social movements.

We reiterate the need for an autonomous and strong women’s movement. We recognize and respect the diversity of this movement. We value women’s leadership, especially that of those among us who in addition to being oppressed as women suffer other forms of oppression; we see this as a necessary strategy for attaining veritable social transformation.

The World March of Women believes in the power of solidarity. We are the millions of women who wage a daily struggle to ensure our survival and that of our communities, rural and urban; we are Indigenous women who face an age-old oppression and economic, political and social discrimination; we are survivors of rape, incest, sexual exploitation, wife assault and hatred, we struggle against the impunity of attackers; we are lesbians deprived of fundamental human rights who are struggling against persecution; we are women living in situations of armed conflict; we are women resisting apartheid regimes; women living under military occupation and victims of embargos; we are women working in adverse conditions to build peace and democracy and demanding to be included in peace negotiations and conflict prevention processes. We are diverse and we work together to “build another world.”

The World March of Women invites women to commit to furthering these struggles in each of our countries, our regions and at the international level in order to break the silence and accelerate the long march toward self-determination, peace, justice, democracy and equality.