Join me on the Bridge campaign to honor International Women's Day

JOIN ME ON THE BRIDGE

Overview:

With the tenth anniversary of the UN Millennium Development Goals in 2010, we are given pause to reflect on the tremendous work left to be done in order to eradicate poverty and achieve equality for all the world’s citizens. 70% of the world’s poor are women and 75% of the civilians killed in war are women and children.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, site of over 5 million deaths and hundreds of thousands of rapes in a conflict spanning more than a decade, women are imagining peace. They say peace means being able to live and to work freely. They see peace as walking to the fields without fear of rape; they envision a more prosperous future, harvesting from the fields the fruits of their own labor. Yet war wages on.

To honor the resilience of these and the millions of other women survivors of war around the world, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign – Join me on the Bridge - which will unite women all over the world in a global women’s movement showing that women can build the bridges of peace and development for the future. On March 8, 2010, thousands of women will stand together in Congo and neighboring Rwanda to demand peace and development. Supporting them in their call for the war’s end will be thousands of women from Bosnia, Kosovo, Sudan, Nigeria, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa as well as in the United States and the United Kingdom, to say no to war and yes to peace and hope.

Events in the US and UK:

Our US and UK offices are planning Join me on the Bridge events on Monday, March 8 in New York City, Washington DC and London. We are inviting supporters, partners, and the general public to join us as we walk together across major bridges and then gather to create peace banners and hear speeches. We hope to garner significant international exposure from this effort. Footage of our bridge events will be combined with footage from the other bridges across the world to create an online video demonstrating women's collective, global voice for peace.

How supporters can get involved in their own communities:

Ours is an unprecedented call to action: let all who support peace and development for women, their families and communities Join Us on the Bridge. You can join a global movement of women uniting for peace and prosperity. All around the U.S. and all around the world women are organizing events to honor and echo the voices of women survivors of war on International Women's Day. You can attend a bridge event, organize one, or sign the pledge that you believe women are the key to global peace and development. For more information on Women for Women International's Bridge Campaign, please visit the campaign website at www.womenforwomen.org/bridge or contact Lyric Thompson, lthompson@womenforwomen.org.

Women for Women International’s policy perspective:

All around the world, women survivors of war know there can be no peace without development and no development without peace. We stand with them to call for that vision today, urging governments, donors and the world to invest in women so that they can rebuild their lives, families and communities. Women can build bridges of peace. We call for the immediate enactment of their visions of peace and prosperity:

1. Peace - The violence must stop; peace must be secured and rule of law restored. Invest in women’s security that they may safely access and exercise their human rights and full political, economic and social participation for their benefit and the benefit of their families, communities and nations.


2. Development - Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. Invest in women’s economic opportunity. Grant women the tools they need to rebuild families and economies through job training and creation, as well as access to resources like credit, extension services, and property rights.