FTF Marches in Solidarity on International Women’s Day

On Friday March 8th, FTF celebrated International Women’s Day at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW57). The day has been marked internationally since the 1970s. The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD, 8 March) is “Women and Men United to End Violence against Women and Girls.” The theme at the CSW was chosen to draw attention to the UN Secretary-General’s wider “UNiTE to End Violence Against Women” campaign which runs through 2015, the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. As in years past, the day coincides with the current session of the CSW. This year ministers from over 50 countries and more than 1,000 representatives of women’s groups are participating. The 57th session officially commenced on the 4th of March, and ended on the 15th. The FTF organized a parallel event on the impact of the “extractives development model” during this time.

The FTF joined in solidarity with hundreds of other organizations and networks for a march on IWD. As in the past, women’s organizations at the UN worked around the clock to organize dozens of special events for this year’s observance in the days leading up to and after the day itself, bringing women and men together to tackle the scourge of violence against women in all its manifestations. From the doors of the UN Church Center, to Austria, to Zambia, events planned include rallies, seminars, press conferences, exhibits, film screenings and concerts, involving women’s groups and ministries, schools, faith-based organizations and many others.

+ Women Sound the Alarm!

Also, on the occasion of International Women’s Day this year, the Center for Women’s Global Leadership and the International Women’s Rights Action Watch – Asia Pacific, along with the endorsement of over 400 women’s organizations and individuals, issued this statement:

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals across the globe, are again concerned that the United Nations Commission on the the Status of Women (CSW) is wavering in its commitment to advance women’s human rights as demonstrated in the constant negotiation of the language in the outcome document.

On the occasion of celebrating the International Women’s Day we call on the states to reaffirm its commitment to agreed upon standards in promoting women’s human rights as articulated in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action as well as other international humanitarian and human rights law.

We say NO to any re-opening of negotiations on the already established international agreements on women’s human rights and call on all governments to demonstrate their commitments to promote, protect and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedoms of women.

We commend those states that are upholding women’s rights in totality. We urge states to reaffirm standards that they have agreed to. Considering the lack of an outcome document last year we hope that this is not the pattern when it comes to advancing women’s human rights agenda Women’s human rights are not to be negotiated away…

View the full statement here.

Below are details from the March.

International Women’s Day March, 10:00am-12:00pm, organized by the Association For Women’s Rights and Development (AWID), Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) and United Methodist Women. 1st Avenue and 42nd Street.