Around the world, the 8^th March launches the calendar of social movements’ common struggles in 2009. This year, in the spirit of the Women’s Assembly Declaration, held during the Belém World Social Forum, demonstrations will strongly denounce the capitalist model of development responsible for the crisis affecting the whole planet, and which has – as one of its support pillars – the oppression of women. Manifestations will also denounce the superficial responses to the crisis, responses that only serve to concentrate wealth to a larger extent, and to continue the reproduction of the patriarchal capitalist global system.

Women will be in the streets to reaffirm the world they want to build, based on feminism, freedom from exploration, inequality and discrimination, and without violence and racism. They will demand true equality, freedom and the end to the criminalisation of women who are struggling for autonomy of their bodies and sexuality. Faced with wars that maintain and deepen world inequality, the 8^th March will also be a moment for the defence of peace and peoples’ sovereignty, and the expression of solidarity to all women living in conflict regions, such as Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo and, especially, Palestine.

WMW National Coordination Bodies (NCBs) are organising actions in many countries around the world, among them:

Benin: Activities will be held on 22^nd March.

Brazil: The WMW will be in the streets throughout the country, in their continued struggle for equality, autonomy and peoples’ sovereignty. Demonstrations, debates and seminars will take place in the states of Alagoas, Amazonas, Minas Gerais, Ceará, Distrito Federal, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, as well as on the border between Brazil and Uruguay. Read more (in Portuguese) by clicking on the link: http://www.sof.org.br/marcha/?pagina=inicio&idNoticia=290

Burkina Faso: Activities will concentrate around the eradication of violence as a way of permitting that women grow and take part in development.

Burundi: The WMW is organising mobilisation and awareness-raising activities in relation to the eradication of violence against women. The theme is “Men and Women: Together for the eradication of violence against women”.

Ivory Coast: Activities targeting maternal mortality, HIV awareness-raising campaigns and against violence against women will be held in alliance with different organisations in the city of Yamoussoukro.

Chile: Under the slogan “Nosotras Exigimos, Unidas Decidimos” (“We demand, We decide”), a large demonstration in Santiago will demand an end to the discrimination, exclusion and violence which characterises the daily life of women, and also access to work, education, health, social protection and to political and social participation, as well as sexual and reproductive freedom. Further information at: http://m8demarzochile.blogspot.com/.

Cuba: The principal activity that will mark the 8^th March will be the VII Congress of the Cuban Women’s Federation, during which 900 delegates will debate and approve messages of solidarity with women of the world. The Congress preparation process strengthened the structures and functioning of the women’s organisations involved. On the 31^st March, the NCB of the WMW will meet to organise their actions in the run up to 2010.

Galicia: Women will be in the streets in La Coruña, Compostela, Ferrol, Ourense, Pontevedra and Vigo to struggle for changes that improve their life conditions and achieve and consolidate rights that have been denied. They will also draw attention to the risks that exist in Galicia now that a political party that does not consider women’s right, public services and social policies as its priority has come into power. Read the full programme at: http://feminismo.info

Guatemala: A caravan will gather movements and organisations from all over the country to denounce the effects of the economic crisis on the life of women and the capitalist, patriarchal system as its origin.

Kenya: Demonstrations, public debates and cultural activities will be held on the 7^th, 8^th, 16^th, 20^th and 28^th March in Nairobi and will be moments to work on issues such as food sovereignty (in opposition to genetically modified foodstuffs), the impunity of police violence and the other WMW Action Areas with local communities. Read the full programme of activities and more information sent by the NCB at:
http://www.worldmarchofwomen.org/st...

Laos: Cultural activities and debates gathering different women’s organisations, as well as campaigns to raise clothes, materials and other resources for women’s shelters, will be held on 10^th March.

Pakistan: In Karachi, a one-day Peace Assembly for women will be held; in Hyderabad, a consultative discussion is being organised on the 7^th with members of grassroots organisations and rural women. The theme of the discussion is “The economical and social status of women in the current political context of the country".

Quebec: A massive march will be organised to demand better life and work conditions for all Quebec women , and to show solidarity with women from around the world.

Groups that participate in WMW actions will also carry out activities around the 8^th March. Among these, the Second Meeting of Amazigh Women and a debate about local community responsibility in the struggle against violence against women in Morocco and discussions about health, labour market participation and wage equality in Sweden.

For us, this 8^th March launches a year of intense work to construct the International Action that will take place in 2010. The International Actions of the World March of Women are moments for expressing the strength of women organised collectively in associations, groups, and movements. In addition, they express the strength derived from the fact that we are women with diverse experiences, political cultures and ethnicities, but with a common wish to overcome the current unjust order. They are also expressions of international solidarity with women in other parts of the world.

See also:
– The radio programme Voz de los Movimientos n.14, http://www.movimientos.org/programa..., an 8^th March special edition produced by Minga Informativa de Movimientos Sociales (in Spanish)
– Other radio materials for International Women’s Day: http://www.movimientos.org/insumosm... (in Spanish)