World March of Women

The World March of Women is an international feminist action movement connecting grass-roots groups and organizations working to eliminate the causes at the root of poverty and violence against women. The NGO fights against all forms of inequality and discrimination directed at women. The NGO’s values and actions are directed at making political, economic and social change. They centre on the globalization of solidarity; equality between women and men, among women themselves and between peoples; the respect and recognition of diversity among women; the multiplicity of our strategies; the appreciation of women’s leadership; and the strength of alliances among women and with other progressive social movements.

Objectives

The objectives of the World March of Women are to:

1. Strengthen and maintain a vast solidarity movement of all women and grass-roots groups so that the March constitutes a gesture of affirmation by women of the world.
2. Promote equality and justice between women and men, among women themselves and between all peoples.
3. Continue building and reinforcing a vast process of popular education so that all women can analyze for themselves the causes of their oppression and discrimination, and the possible alternatives.
4. Highlight the common demands and alternatives issuing from women’s movements worldwide, on the local, national, regional and international levels, relating to the issues of poverty and violence against women.
5. Exert political pressure 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 worldwide, including a disarmament and peaceful conflict resolution policy, and an end to all forms of impunity and corruption, the use of rape as a weapon of war, occupations, foreign military presence and the imposition of political/economic blockades.
   Challenge and denounce the international financial, economic and military institutions (IMF, NATO, WTO, WB, transnational corporations, cooperation agencies that impose conditions on women’s struggles, etc.) that are 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 support and institute the changes necessary for improving the status and conditions of women and women’s quality of life the world over.
7. Develop and implement feminist actions and proposals that denounce the economic and financial institutions that promote the exploitation and degradation of our resources, climate change and the loss of our biodiversity. Struggle for the self-management of our environmental resources based on a development model that respects the basic needs of present and future generations.

Main Areas of Action

• The Common Good and Access to Resources
• Peace and demilitarisation: A Collective “Peace and demilitarisation” plays an efficient role in the March. Its mandate is to develop a WMW policy in this area; ensure the participation of the WMW in actions to oppose militarism and armed conflicts, etc.; and produce materials on these issues. Coordination: the regional coordinating body of the African Great Lakes Region (Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo).

• Women`s Work: There is one Working group on feminist economic alternatives which mandate is, among other things, to further feminist analysis about economic alternatives, maintain dialogue with closely allied networks, update the World March’s demands platform and draw up action proposals.
• Violence Against Women: One Working Group has the mandate to fight against Violence against Women and sexual trafficking. The priority of this working group is sex trafficking. Its mandate is to further advance the discussion to support our action strategies linking 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.
• Fight against poverty

References

• http://www.marchemondiale.org/