October 17th
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Dear friends,
Can you please circulate the following among women in your networks?
many thanks,
Cathy Picone
for the World March national coordinating committee
===
Women Invited to Initiate Meetings on October 17th
Aung San Sui Kyi, the democratically elected leader of Burma, is among
world leaders who support the World March of Women in the Year 2000.
Women and women's groups around the globe are working together in the World
March of Women campaign for concrete change to combat the growing gulf
between the world's rich and poor.
Never before have 5,200 organisations in 157 countries come together as
they have for the World March of Women.
In Peru, Brazil, India, Morocco and Bolivia, in Switzerland, Panama,
Romania, Haiti, Nepal and Mozambique, in Pakistan, Thailand, Fiji and
Australia, women are uniting against this divided world to work together
for an end to inequity.
Very soon - on October 17th, the World March of Women campaign reaches its
grande finale.
A contingent of Australian women will join the mass rallies in Washington
and New York and will meet with the UN's Kofi Annan and the World Bank's
James Wolfensohn in a clear demonstration of women's determination to shake
up the powers that be.
October 17th 2000, International for the Eradication of Poverty is a day
that will be remembered in the history of the women's movement worldwide:
on that day millions of signatures from people around the world will be
presented to Kofi Annan at United Nations headquarters in New York.
These signatures carry the message that economic globalisation,
privatisation of public assets and other policies imposed by the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have brought an increasingly
divided world:
* If all the world's wealth were evenly divided between every man, woman
and child presently alive on the planet, we would all have $13 million
apiece!
* Four years ago, according to the UN, the world's richest 358 billionaires
had greater combined wealth than 45% of the world's peoples' combined
annual income. And now, four years later, the gulf has increased.
* 1.6 billion people are now living on US$1 a day or less. Of these 70% are
women and children.
Australian women are invited to be part of the campaign. Women are invited
to organise a small scale meeting on October 17th. At work, at school, at
home, in neighbourhood centres, women will be initiating small scale grass
roots meetings with friends, family and work colleagues. If you'd like to
run a meeting on October 17th, contact the World March of Women in
Australia for guidelines. Information is also available from your local
contact.
In addition, you can also participate in women's song and dance fests on
October 7th and other events in your local area. For more info, please
contact:
PERTH: Jo Dillon (08) 9362 3482
BRISBANE: Mary Ziesak (07) 3880 0164
HOBART: Andre Poppleton (03) 6231 3212
ADELAIDE: Cathy Picone (08) 8296 4357
SYDNEY: Dorothy Buckland Fuller (02) 9968 3910
NEWCASTLE NSW: Betty Mawdsley (02) 4971 3507
CANBERRA: Ruth Corrigan (02) 4849 4543
MELBOURNE: Sheila Byard (03) 9376 7870
NATIONAL:
World March of Women in the Year 2000 - Australia
c/o Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
GPO Box 2094, Adelaide SA 5001
(08) 8296 4357 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] fax: 08 8377 0706
web site for Australia: http://www.uq.net.au/march2000/
web site for overseas: http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000
The national coordinating committee for World March of Women 2000 in
Australia acknowledges the support for its work given by Senator Kate
Lundy, Jenny Macklin, Member of the House of Representatives for Jagajaga,
Cheryl Kernot, Member for Dickson, Hon Dr Carmen Lawrence, Member for
Fremantle, Senator Rosemary Crowley, Faye Lo Po, NSW Minister for Women,
Judy Spence, Queensland Minister for Women, the YWCA and the Australian
Virtual Centre for Women and the Law. In addition, the committee wishes to
thank the many women whose generous donations allowed us to print the
support cards.
--
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