SUMMARY OF WORKING DOCUMENT

This document was distributed to the delegates during the International Preparatory Meeting of 16-18 October, 1998

AGAINST POVERTY AND FOR SHARING WEALTH

AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND

FOR CONTROL AND RESPECT OF OUR BODIES

We, the women of the world, are marching against the poverty that crushes four billion people on our planet, most of whom are women. We are also marching to protest violence against women because this is a fundamental negation of human rights.

Against neoliberal capitalism that turns human beings, especially women, into an increasingly disposable, interchangeable and exploitable commodity. Against the subordination of individual and collective rights to the dictates of financial markets. Against the progressive disappearance of political power in the face of rising economic power.

Against the complicit silence of international financial institutions that sprang up after the Second World War (IMF, World Bank, GATT, now the WTO) and other international and regional institutions : they perpetuate the exploitation of peoples by imposing structural adjustment programs in the South, deficit fighting and social program cutbacks in the North, and by concocting trade and other kinds of agreements such as the MAI.

Against patriarchal ideology, still largely dominant today, under which violence against women continues to be a universal fact of life : spousal violence, sexual abuse, genital mutilation, homophobic and racist attacks, systematic rape in wartime, etc.

Against all wars. Against threats to the planet's survival and to a healthy environment.

Against all forms of violence against women, adolescent girls and children. Against all forms of violence perpetrated against the most vulnerable women in society.

We will refuse any merely cosmetic changes to the rules governing the economic system. We intend to rethink those rules and come up with new ones based on alternative solutions proposed by women and social movements locally, nationally and internationally.

We will propose new models of development where human beings will be the focal point of all concerns. We will demand that all international and trade agreements be subordinated to respect for individual and collective fundamental rights.

We will demand that international institutions assume their responsibilities in redistributing wealth and respecting women's rights everywhere on the planet.

We will demand that our governments and international organizations condemn violence against women and the underlying patriarchal ideology. We will insist that they publicly dissociate themselves from any political or religious authority that systematically violates our right to independence and freedom.

We will insist that the men in our communities seriously commit themselves to denouncing and working against the diverse forms of violence directed against women and girls.

WE ARE MARCHING :

To fight feelings of hopelessness, to bring to the fore solidarity and sharing (of cultures, work, knowledge, responsibilities vis-à-vis children and future generations), to give rein to our imaginations, to explore new forms of creating and distributing wealth (the citizen's dividend, for example), to ensure the fullest development for every individual and every group.

To give birth to a world based on equality between women and men and respect for fundamental human rights, a world where every woman and man has the means to make a living and to make living worthwhile.

The project stimulates and mobilizes us; it breaks our isolation and brings us together in solidarity and democratic endeavour.