[van-announce] World March of Women - update!!!!

[Lynda Gerty]

Congratulations women!!!!

A few days ago, on March 8th, women of the World March of Women launched the 
Women's Global Charter for Humanity.  This document, two years in the making 
and supported by almost 6000 women's organizations in more than 160 
countries, provides a shared vision of the world women are working to 
create.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the international launch of the Charter and 
world relay took place, 30,000 women took to the streets to shout loud and 
strong their desire to create a world with freedom, equality, solidarity, 
justice and peace.   The demonstration also highlighted Brazilian demands, 
particularly the right to free and accessible abortion in safe conditions.

As we speak, women around the world are organizing local events to support 
this international campaign.  In Vancouver, women met last night to begin 
organizing an event on May 1st to welcome the charter into our city.  We see 
this event and the World March network as a concrete opportunity to support 
women's grassroots feminist organizing around the world.  We also believe 
that uniting women locally behind this campaign and a shared vision of the 
world we are fighting for will demonstrate the strength and solidarity of 
the women's movement.  Imagine what message it would send to ourselves, our 
allies, Gordon Campbell, and women internationally to have thousands of 
women standing united in the streets of Vancouver on May 1st!!!!!

Check out the World March website at http://www.marchemondiale.org/ ... and 
get inspired by the sight of 30,000 women in the streets of Sao Paolo. Read 
the demands of the World March of Women to the Canadian government below, 
and read the international demands on the website. I am hopeful that you 
will agree and decide to participate in this important event.

I strongly encourage all of you to decide to participate in the arrival of 
the Women's Charter into Vancouver at the Art Gallery on May 1st.  Then come 
out to our next organizing meeting and help plan to make the event a major 
success - following in the tradition of the World March of Women 2000.

We will meet next Thursday, March 17 at VESTA (2915 Commercial Drive - at 
13th Ave) at 6pm.  Bring your ideas and determination and we'll provide the 
pizza!

Hoping to see you all soon,

Lynda Gerty
on behalf of the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres

The Feminist Dozen*
World March Demands to the Canadian Government

1. Restore federal funding to health care and enforce rules against the 
privatization of our health care system, beginning with Alberta.

2. Spend an additional 1% of the budget on social housing.

3. Set up the promised national child-care fund, starting with an immediate 
contribution of $2 billion.

4. Increase Old Age Security payments to provide older women with a decent 
standard of living.

5. Use the surplus from the Employment Insurance Fund to increase benefits, 
provide longer payment periods and improve access, as well as improve 
maternity and family benefits.

6. Support women’s organizing for equality and democracy by:

a. allocating $50 million to front-line, independent, feminist, 
women-controlled groups committed to ending violence against women, such as 
women’s centres, rape crisis centres and women’s shelters;

b. recognizing and funding the three autonomous national Aboriginal women’s 
organizations to ensure full participation in all significant public policy 
decisions as well as provide adequate funding to Aboriginal women’s 
services, including shelters, rural, remote and urban Aboriginal 
communities;

c. funding a national meeting of lesbians to discuss and prioritize areas 
for legislative and public policy reform;

d. providing $30 million in core funding for equality-seeking women’s 
organizations, which represents only $2.00 for every woman and girl child in 
Canadaoour Fair Share.

7. Fund consultations with a wide range of women’s equality-seeking 
organizations prior to all legislative reform of relevance to women’s 
security and equality rights, beginning with the Criminal Code, and ensure 
access for women from marginalized communities.

8. Implement progressive immigration status on arrival; abolish the "head 
tax" on all immigrants; include persecution on the basis of gender and 
sexual orientation as grounds for claiming refugee status.

9. Contribute to the elimination of poverty around the world by: supporting 
the cancellation of the debts of the 53 poorest countries; increasing 
Canada’s international development aid to 0.7% of the Gross National 
Product.

10. Adopt national standards which guarantee the right to welfare for 
everyone in need and ban workfare.

11. Recognize the ongoing exclusion of women with disabilities from 
economic, political and social life and take the essential first step of 
ensuring and funding full access for women with disabilities to all 
consultations on issues of relevance to women.

12. Establish a national system of grants based on need, not merit, to 
enable access to post-secondary education and reduce student debt.

13. Adopt proactive pay equity legislation.