Program

October 16-18, 1998

YOUR TIMETABLE ON OCTOBER 16

The day is broken up into three periods:

• Feminist Popular Education Fair

• Preparation of delegates for the October 17-18 meeting

• Opening ceremony, dinner and show

9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

FEMINIST POPULAR EDUCATION FAIR

• Stands displaying awareness and popular education tools developed by women from here and abroad to aid their communities in understanding, analyzing, and struggling to end poverty and violence against women. The themes of health and the environment will also be represented.
• Workshops on different themes relevant to women from five continents which will be open to delegates as well as to the Quebec public. The workshop schedule will be posted on a wall at the Fair. Make your choice(s) and write your name on the sign-up sheets.

Workshops will be held in the language of the person leading them; however, volunteers will provide whisper translation in some workshops. This information will be clearly posted on the workshop schedule next to the title of the workshop.

Lucie Lamarche will be giving a workshop on international tools important to women (at two times: 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Room 205) that should be helpful to delegates as preparation for the weekend work sessions. We encourage you to attend. Please note that some whisper translation will be available in Spanish in each of these workshops.

Guided tour of Montreal organized by the collective l'Autre Montréal. This tour, specially designed for the overseas delegates, will present the history of women in Quebec, touching on the themes of poverty and violence against women as well as the multicultural character of Montreal. The tour lasts two and a half hours. The schedule of departures and sign-up sheets will be available at the Fair.

Lunch can be obtained at the food stands in the Hall at the Centre Pierre Charbonneau until 4:00 p.m. There is no scheduled break for lunch; make your own arrangements according to your programme for the day. A reminder: you are responsible for the cost of lunch.

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

PREPARATION FOR OCTOBER 17-18 MEETING

The March Coordinating Committee proposes an initial work session for delegates to prepare for the October 17-18 meeting. They will provide you with details about the weekend and distribute working papers.

Starting at 4:00 p.m., the session will be offered in three rooms, according to the language you will be working in:

• Spanish: Room 201
• English: Room 205

• French: Room 308

Immediately after the delegates' workshops you are invited to attend the official opening ceremony of the international preparatory meeting. You will find a dinner ticket in your folder. Different languages will be spoken over the evening; there will be no simultaneous translation. Following dinner, there is a show. After that, you will have the opportunity to take a whirl around the dance floor.

FEMMES DE PARTOUT!

WOMEN FROM EVERYWHERE!

MUJERES DE TODAS PARTES!

This show celebrates women's love of life with music, movement and words, through incisive tales, songs, poems, and prose. It is a specially conceived collage of texts that have stirred the imagination of women activists throughout the world : June Jordan, Talisma Nasreen, Joy Harjo, Christiane Rochefort, Joujou Turenne, Bertalicia Peralta, Barbara, Rosario Ferré, Marijosé Ali and many more.

Conception, text assembly and staging: Suzanne Boisvert

Creation team and actors: Patricia Perez, Gin Bergeron, Sara Rénélique, Joujou Turenne, Janet Lumb, Danielle Boutet, Lee Heppner and Assar Santana.

Directors: Suzanne Boisvert et Manon Choinière

Stage manager: Manon Choinière

Lighting: Manon Choinière

Room sound: France Deslauriers

Monitor sound: Yvanhoe Arseneault

Technical assistance: Isabelle Garceau and Ginette Michaud

Disk jockey: Sophie Picard

Lighting and sound design: Auvitec

Thanks to: Véronique O'Leary, Nadine Ltaif, Micheline from Building Dance, Théâtre La Veillée, Sylvain Duquette and Michel Allen from the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau.

Have a good day and a good evening!

We are expecting you at the CEGEP du Vieux Montréal at 9h00 Saturday morning

255, Ontario Street east

WORK SESSION

CÉGEP du Vieux Montréal

255 Ontario Street East

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1998

8:00 a.m.

Registration

9:00 a.m.

Welcome and presentation on how the work sessions will proceed

• Welcoming address and presentation of the meeting’s objectives and of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 -- Françoise David, president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec
• Presentation of work by the Content Committee. Overview and demands will be read out
• Short addresses by delegates on how the women in their groups and their countries have received the project of the World March of Women
• Presentation of the demands
• Presentation of the proposal to set up an International Liaison Committee

12:30 p.m.

Lunch on site (please note that some places are reserved in the cafeteria so that caucuses or other kinds of groups can meet together)

1:30 p.m.

Workshops on the demands

6:00 p.m.

Supper on site

7:30 p.m.

Participation in the march to mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, organized by ATD Quart Monde, an international NGO. The rallying point is at the corner of Ontario and Berri Streets.

WORK SESSION

CÉGEP du Vieux Montréal

255 Ontario Street East

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1998

9:00 a.m.

Workshops to discuss action scenarios (please go to the same room)

12:00 p.m.

Lunch on site: regional meetings to name representatives to the International Liaison Committee(see list attached to the proposal)

1:30 p.m.

Plenary on the demands and actions chosen

• Support for struggles and resistance by women the world over

• Presentation of representatives of different regions sitting on the International Liaison Committee

• Follow-up

7:00 p.m.

Thank yous and good-byes

Note: Since we have such a heavy schedule, we will start plenary sessions and workshops right on time. We urge you to be punctual too.

Registration Fee

The registration fee for the international preparatory meeting is $200 CAN per delegate. Apart from helping us cover part of the cost of holding the meeting, the registration fee includes two lunches, two dinners and coffee breaks. If some of you cannot afford the fee, please contact us. To facilitate more participation by women from the South, we are asking those who can do so to make a solidarity donation ($25 CAN or more).

Accommodations

The delegates we will sponsor will be able to choose between two forms of accommodation: to stay in a reasonably priced hotel or to stay with a Quebec woman activist. We will send information to the other international delegates on Montreal hotels where we will reserve blocks of rooms. These delegates, however, will be responsible for making their reservation and paying for their stay.

Meetings with Quebec's Women's Groups

A number of women's groups in Quebec are interested in organizing activities and tours for delegates before and after the meeting. The purpose of these contacts is for the women to share their ideas and experiences. Please indicate your interest on the registration form. We will pair you with a Quebec group according to the kind of activity planned and availability.

Air travel

At the present time, we are looking for an airline willing to give us substantial reductions. We will send more detailed information to delegates once they are registered.

Visitor's visas

Some delegates will have to obtain a visitor's visa from the Canadian Embassy, High Commissioner or Consulate in their country. When we receive delegates' registration, we will send them a letter to facilitate the paperwork. Since the issuance of visas can take from a few days to several weeks, it is important for us to receive delegates' names as soon as possible.