Argentina

City of Buenos Aires

Organization "Mujeres Trabajando"

E-mail : info@mujerestrabajando.org.ar

Situation of women in Argentina

A few rates about the economic situation of Argentina’s women :

• 56% of women are in families living below poverty line.
• 27% of women are in families living below indigence line.
• 27,7% of families are under the responsibility of a woman (Census 2001).
• Out of the women who are head of their family, 38% live under the poverty line.
• Out of the women who are head of a family and have children in their charge, 66,7% live under the poverty line.

Concerning income levels, the wage gap between women and men is around 70%. Contradicting the idea that education assures better jobs, greatest differences are encountered at the professional and technical levels – job sectors which have increased the most during this period. Between 2001 and 2003, men’s average income has risen more than women’s.

We, Argentinean women, are fighting on all fronts by the means of networks, local associations, unions, political parties, with particular regards on violence, discrimination, sexuality, abortion, exploitation in the workplace or sexual exploitation, etc.

Passage of the Relay

The world launch of the Relay will take place on March 8th in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and will pass through 53 countries before ending on October 17th, 2005.

On March 12th, it will pass from Brazil to Argentina in San Javier, on the border. Activities will be held there, like a craft fair and planting of trees.

On March 13th, an artistic and musical festival will take place in a hall of Costanera Sur, in Buenos Aires. We will hold a Charter reading and distribute informational material.

On March 14th, there will be an activity of distribution of the Charter in the city of Salta. The same day, it will cross the Bolivian border in Quioca / Villazón, where the participants will share a typical meal: the "aptapí".

During the Relay, women will assemble squares of fabrics to create the Patchwork quilt of the world solidarity.

The end of the Relay is estimated to be on October 17th, 2005 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (Africa). On this particular day, at noon, women will hold “the 24 Hours of Feminist Solidarity” an event, that will begin in Oceania and will progress westward, according to the time zones.

At the national level, what activities are organized by the Coordination of Argentina to promote the Women’s Global Charter for Humanity?

Press conference, chains of emails, meetings in almost all the provinces and a plan for a national Charter that will be presented in October specifying the problems of every province. Each province will also add a piece to the national Patchwork quilt that will be presented during popular education activity held in honour of the 24 hours of Feminist Solidarity event on October 17th.

Chronology

On March 12th, a delegation of World March of Women of Argentina will cross the border of Brazil in San Xavier and will participate in ceremonies organized by their partners of Brazil. There, they will receive the Charter and the Patchwork quilt and will return to Argentina where an activity will take place in the city of San Javier, before the Relay moves on to Buenos Aires.

In this city, on March 13th, there will be a popular festival in the Lola Mora Hall of the Costanera Sur. From 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. there will be musical bands, poems written by women and for women and short plays about women conditions. The Hall is named after Lola Mora, the most famous woman sculptor in Argentina, discriminated by the local community for her artistic activities, rebelliousness and talent.

On March 14th, a ceremony will take place in the province of Salta’s capital where the Charter will be distributed and a delegation will travel to the border of Bolivia to pass the relay of the Charter and the Patchwork quilt.

On March 8th, letters will propagate the actions of the World March and an invitation to join planned activities. Those should happen on public places across the country.

We think that we will promote the Charter thru press conferences, calls on radio and television shows, email lists and feminine portals: Agenda de la Mujer, Mujeres sin fronteras and Mujeres hoy.

On October 17th, we hope we will launch the national Charter that should be the result of discussions in every province. We should also present the national quilt that will have been travelling with the Charter around the country.

The launch of the Charter

The launch of the Charter will take place on March 13. A special session is also planned in the Buenos Aires Legislature.

The 24 Hours of Feminist Solidarity

A popular education activity where we will present the Charter of the women of Argentina and the national quilt.