LL:DDS: Adelaide protests: Land Warfare Conference
If you want peace, prepare for peace. If you want war, prepare for war. Adelaide will soon be hosting a Land Warfare Conference at the Convention Centre, North Terrace. This Conference will take place 27 - 29 October, next Monday week through to Wednesday. To protest the arms trade, three actions will be held during the time of the Land Warfare Conference: 1. Monday 27 October, 4pm - 6.30pm, on the plaza just outside the Convention Centre on North Terrace (near the railway). This is the time when conference delegates will be registering. This protest is for women and men. 2. Tuesday 28 October, 7.30am - 10.30am, also on the plaza just outside the Convention Centre. This is the time when delegates will be arriving for the start of the conference. This protest is also for women and men. 3. Wednesday 29 October, 5 pm to 6pm, the usual Women in Black vigil, on the steps of Parliament House. This protest is for women only. Ruth is making some signs and placards for these actions so come along and stand with us if you can. The money required to provide adequate food, water, education, health and housing for everyone in the world for a year is what the world spends on arms every two weeks. Contacts: Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (SA): (08) 8232 6334 Australian Peace Committee (SA): (08) 8212 7138 -- . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDS: Romero company's annual drama production, Adelaide
Please forward The Romero Company Incorporated presents HE WHO MUST DIE by Nikos Kazantzakis Script adapted by Damian Mead Music arranged by Helen Lawrie Directed by Sister Janet Mead He who must die by famous Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis (best known for Zorba the Greek) is set in the turbulence of the Catastrophe in 1921. Thousands of Greeks were uprooted and driven out of their homes in Asia Minor by Turkish oppression. This Romero Company Production evokes the passion, conflict and the rising of the human spirit over injustice and adversity. Come and enjoy the music, the drama and the humour of this colourful production on THURSDAY 9th and FRIDAY 10th OCTOBER 2003 at 7.30pm at ADELAIDE HIGH SCHOOL HALL, WEST TERRACE, ADELAIDE ADMISSION: $18 adults; $12 concession FOR TICKETS phone 8232 0048 or 8231 4801 Proceeds: Rosemary Taylor's self-help projects, South-East Asia -- -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDS: Women in Black vigil, Wednesday 24th Sept, 5 - 6 pm
Adelaide Women in Black Vigil Silent Vigil against War, Violence and Militarisation Parliament House steps, Adelaide Wednesday 24th September, 2003, 5 pm - 6 pm For more details, contact: Jillinda or Cathy: (08) 8232 6334 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDS: Children of the Gulf War photo exhibition
Please distribute widely Children of the Gulf War Australian Tour Project photographic exhibition by Takashi Morizumi, respected photojournalist and advocate of a nuclear free world, documenting the effects of the 1991 Gulf War on the children of Iraq Now extended until 5 July 2003 at The Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide exhibition open Monday-Thursday 8am-10pm, Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday lpm-5pm Free entry (donation appreciated) Brought to Adelaide by Women's International League for Peace Freedom with the support of: The Barr Smith Library, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, Graham F Smith Peace Trust, Quakers in South Australia, Australian Peace Committee, Amnesty International, NOWAR SA, United Nations Status of Women Committee, The Body Shop, Temple Bruer Wines, Brenden Wood Media Management Further information at: www.wilpf.org.au -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:URL: Ruth Russell's web site
Ruth Russell who is Treasurer of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (South Australian branch) went recently to Iraq as a human shield. You might like to check out Ruth's website: http://www.ruthrussell.net/ -- .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDS: Ruth Russell, human shield in Iraq, speaking on war
Please distribute widely. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (SA) and Adelaide Amnesty International Women's Group invite you to hear Ruth Russell, human shield in Iraq speak about her experiences of the recent war on Iraq at the Coglin Street Community Centre 23 Coglin Street, Adelaide 7.30 p.m. - 9.30 p.m. Thursday 3rd July Entry by gold coin donation Supper provided Further information: 8232 6334 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:DDS: Children of the Gulf War photographic exhibition
Women's International League for Peace Freedom (WILPF) is pleased to bring to Adelaide the 58 dramatic black and white images by respected anti-nuclear photojournalist, Takashi Morizumi. These photos will be on display at the Barr Smith Library until June 28th. The photos show how, even before the most recent war on Iraq, the Gulf War had never ended for most Iraqis - the pain of Iraqi mothers watching their children die from untreated leukemia...a grandparent trying to protect a grandchild from the agony of a failing kidney...families farming through necessity in a toxic, radioactive environment. With many thanks, Cathy Picone For WILPF (SA) = Please distribute widely Children of the Gulf War Australian Tour Project a photographic exhibition by Takashi Morizumi, respected photojournalist and advocate of a nuclear free world, documenting the effects of the 1991 Gulf War on the children of Iraq On display until 28th June 2003 at The Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide exhibition open Monday-Thursday 8am-10pm, Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday lpm-5pm Free entry (donation appreciated) Brought to Adelaide by Women's International League for Peace Freedom with the support of: The Barr Smith Library, Graham F Smith Peace Trust, Quakers in South Australia, Australian Peace Committee, Amnesty International, NOWAR SA, United Nations Status of Women Committee, The Body Shop, Temple Bruer Wines, Brenden Wood Media Management Further information at: www.wilpf.org.au -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LL:ART: Going as a Human Shield to Iraq: by Ruth Russell
GOING AS A HUMAN SHIELD TO IRAQ By Ruth Russell Why am I going? I am going because this war is morally wrong. I am ashamed that Australians are being involved in this war and by going, I am saying Not in my name. War is not the way a civilized society behaves. There is a way to solve international conflict diplomatically through the United Nations but we need the goodwill of our prime minister to find peaceful solutions instead of excuses for war. As Australians, we were made aware of the tragic consequences of one bomb in Bali recently. Now our government is considering being a party to dropping countless bombs all over Iraq with unimaginable, horrendeous deaths, maiming and destruction . Is this what Australians want? The Australian people are shouting out loudly NO but to date are being ignored. Australia will not gain long term security from participating in this war. What do I hope to achieve ? The idea of a human shield operates on two levels. One is the symbolic action of saying that a war on Iraq is wrong and being prepared to put my life on the line because I believe this. The other level is the practical one of being with the Iraqi people to say not all Australians agree with this war. In Iraq, I hope to be with children in schools as I want to raise the issue that another UN Resolution that Australia is signatory to is to protect children from the horrors of armed conflict. Why is Australia doing nothing to protect Iraqi children? What has lead me to take this action ? I am a member of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and the Australian Democrats as well as a local Councillor. I want to live in a civil society. I think you have to speak out when something is wrong - stand up and be counted. If you don't, then you are complicit by your silence. Australians are being silenced through fear at the moment and this has to stop. Details of my trip to Iraq I leave Adelaide on Wednesday, 19th Feb at 6.30pm, flying to Amman, Jordan to meet with other 'human shield' volunteers. We will then travel by bus to Baghdad. I have to be totally self-sufficient and pay all my own expenses. It is anticipated that we will be staying with families, in schools or hospitals or camping near military targets. What can you do? I am asking Australians to consider the ethics and morality of war and standup and speak out that 'War is not the way a civilized society behaves Contact Details for updates If you would like to know more about my progress this can be arranged through: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ruth Russell Adelaide 13/2/2003 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: Australia Is Refugees
Please distribute widely. Women are warmly invited to the meeting of the SA branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) on Saturday 23rd November eva sallis will speak on the topic australia is refugees: young australians and the refugee experience 2 pm to 4.30 pm, 5 Hutt Street, Adelaide Lunch beforehand 1 pm is optional - please bring some food to share. Hot drinks are provided. All women who are supportive of WILPF's aims for a fair world free of violence, war and weapons are welcome to attend this meeting. Eva Sallis is co-founder of Australians Against Racism www.australiansagainstracism.org Eva is an Australian born writer. Her first novel Hiam won The Australian Vogel and the Dobbie Literary Awards. Her second novel, The City of Sealions, was published in 2002. Other publications include a book of literary criticism, Sheherazade through the Looking Glass: the Metamorphosis of the 1001 Nights; and a number of short stories, poems, academic and literary articles, and reviews. She has a PhD specialising in comparative literature (Arabic and English). Eva travels regularly to the Middle East. She is currently running the nationwide Australia is Refugees! Schools competition. At the wilpf meeting on November 23rd, Eva will speak about this schools project, and read some excerpts from one or more of the entries. She will also talk a little about why she has set up this project, what its apparent successes and effects are, and what she is planning to do with it in the future. For further information, contact Bernadette Anderson 8267 1583 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:leftlink;vicnet.net.au Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:majordomo;vicnet.net.au?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:majordomo;vicnet.net.au?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: The Circle: film evening fundraiser
Please distribute this notice widely among your networks. Apologies for any cross posting. The Circle - a great film in a good cause - Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (SA) in conjunction with Amnesty International Australia Women's Group present a film evening fundraiser This powerful film, which has been banned by Iranian authorities, follows the lives of four women in an oppressive society where men hold all the cards, yet where even to allude to this fact is seen as a dissentient act. Their world is one of constant surveillance, bureaucracy and age-old inequalities, but this stifling world cannot extinguish the strength and courage of the Circle of women. The Circle caused a sensation when it was awarded Best Film, The Fipresci (Critics) award and the UNICEF award at the Venice Film festival. It was very highly rated by film critics, Margaret Pomerantz and David Stratton (SBS's Movie Show). Trak Cinema, 375 Greenhill Rd Toorak Gardens Thursday 1st August 2002 at 7.00 pm Purchase tickets from: WILPF - 8296 4357 AI - 8221 5979 Cost: $12.00 waged and $6.00 unwaged -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: Good Global Governance - Can the UN deliver?
Please distribute this notice widely among your networks A public meeting Good Global Governance ... Can the United Nations deliver? Speakers: Dr Anthony Burke, Lecturer in International Relations, Department of Politics, University of Adelaide and author of In Fear of Security: Australia's Invasion Anxiety, published Pluto Press Australia, 2001 Dimity Hawkins Formerly of Reaching Critical Will, a nuclear disarmament project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, WILPF United Nations Office, New York Tuesday 18th June 2002 7.15 pm for a 7.30 start. Finishing at 9.30 pm Coglin Street Community Centre 23 Coglin Street, Adelaide (Please note the change of venue) Entry by gold coin donation Live music Supper provided Organised by: Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (SA) and the United Nations Association of Australia (South Australian Division) Further information: phone 08 8296 4357 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: WILPF media release re Nuclear Posture Review
WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (AUSTRALIA) MEDIA RELEASE - 11/3/02 A classified Pentagon briefing paper recently leaked to the US media calls for marked changes in US nuclear posture. Until now, US nuclear policy (to use nuclear weapons as a last resort) has been based around the use of nuclear weapons as deterrents. A secret Nuclear Posture Review would expand the kinds of situations in which the US would be prepared to countenance the use of nuclear weapons by its military. The Review states that nuclear weapons could be used by the US in three types of situations: against targets able to withstand non-nuclear attack; in retaliation for attack with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons; or in the event of surprising military developments. The report also identifies seven countries against which the US would be prepared to use its nuclear armoury. Consistent with recent changes in foreign policy, this Nuclear Posture Review, if adopted, would see yet another sharp move towards increased US unilateralism. Refusal to participate in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; an announced intention to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; and commitment to the National Missile Defence system have all signalled a renewed unilateralist inclination in the US. These suggested changes to US policy on the use of nuclear weapons are provocative in the extreme and, if adopted, could only be regarded as irresponsible, says Mary Ziesak of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). If this review is adopted, the US would be giving itself carte blanche to use nuclear weapons even against nation states which possess only conventional weapons. Despite US denials, this new policy review would amount to nuclear weapons being regarded as conventional battlefield weapons. These are moves which would make the use of nuclear weapons more likely and could only result in increased international tensions. We need to be reducing political and military tensions not increasing them, says Ms Ziesak. This new nuclear posture would diminish the safety of all, including the safety of Australian citizens. At Pine Gap, Australia hosts a base which plays its part in the US nuclear war fighting strategy. There is ample room for a middle ranking power on the international stage such as Australia to stand up against these belligerent and provocative moves on the part of the US. WILPF believes that the Australian Government now needs to take a firm stand against the changes proposed in this policy review. Contact: Cathy Picone 08 8296 4357 -- . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: The Future for Women in Afghanistan
Please distribute this notice widely An important public meeting in Adelaide The Future for Women in Afghanistan With the Taliban gone, is there any real freedom or safety for Afghan women? Speaker: Tahmeena Faryal Senior Spokesperson for the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) Exiled in Pakistan, Faryal is the heroic young woman who, a few years ago, secretly filmed a Taliban execution of women (for supposed crimes against public morality). This film footage dramatically alerted the world to the plight of Afghan women, a plight that grinds on under the warlords of the Northern Alliance. RAWA continues to organise underground activities for the advancement and rights of women. Come and hear firsthand the courageous resistance of the women of Afghanistan. Monday 25th March 2002 7.15 pm for a 7.30 start. Finishing at 9.30 pm Pilgrim Church Hall 12 Flinders Street, Adelaide *Entry by gold coin donation *Live music by Nikki Mortier *Supper provided Organised by: Global Sisterhood Network, Women of Metal, Union of Australian Women, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (SA) and the Tuesday Afternoon Women's Liberation Group Further information: phone 08 8296 4357 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: Women in Black Vigils in Adelaide
Women in Black Vigils in Adelaide SILENT VIGILS AGAINST WAR ON THE STEPS OF PARLIAMENT HOUSE Wednesday 28th November 5.30pm to 6.30pm* and monthly after that on the last Wednesday of each month until the war on/of terror stops We invite all women to join our silent vigil in protest against the ongoing attacks by the United States and its allies against the people of Afghanistan. Wearing the black clothing of bereavement and adopting the silence enforced on the victims of violence, we will mourn the dead and express our opposition to all forms of violence. Please join us to call on the Australian Government to immediately step back from vengeance and instead pursue justice through the channels of international law. Women in Black is a loose, international network of women who share a common philosophy of opposition to militarism and violence and use a similar style of silent demonstration. For more details, please contact Jillinda on 8341 7517 or Cathy on 8296 4357 *This will occur at the same time as the Women in Black Vigil in Sydney on the steps of Sydney Town Hall except we will be CST and they are EST -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: Women's organisations letter - military strikes
Dear LeftLink, I thought that you might like to see a copy of the following letter which is being circulated with an invitation for endorsements from Australian women's organisations. It is being circulated on behalf of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF - Australia) and ANCORW (Australian National Council for Refugee Women). We are inviting other women's organisations to sign on to it. After we have gathered additional signatories from women's organisations, we intend to send this letter to the new Minister for Foreign Affairs on Monday 12 November following the election. Could you please circulate it - for endorsement by women's groups - among your networks? If women's groups are wishing to endorse the letter, they will need to get their endorsement to us by Friday 9 November, the day before the election. thanks for your help, Cathy Picone for WILPF and ANCORW WOMEN'S ORGANISATIONS SIGN-ON LETTER Dated: 12 November 2001 To the as yet unknown Minister for Foreign Affairs, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2601 Dear Minister, We write as a matter of urgency following the election/re-election of your Government and on behalf of the combined memberships of our organisations concerning the military strikes against Afghanistan. In the wake of the September 11 attacks against civilian targets in Washington and New York and while dispersal of anthrax spores continues to be used as a weapon of fear against civilians in the US, we wish to add the voices of hundreds of Australian women to community calls for an adequate and constructive means of addressing the problems of terrorism. While we understand that the Australian Government, in choosing to support the option of military strikes against Afghanistan, has sought to find a means of addressing these difficulties, nevertheless we believe that the ample lessons of history demonstrate that such a military option, if its pursuit is continued, will prove to be not only inadequate but even inflammatory. We believe that the destruction and violent loss of human life in mainland US on September 11 is presently being compounded by further violence against the innocent people of Afghanistan. Not only are some of the US missiles inevitably causing loss of life among non-combatants in cities in Afghanistan, but refugee flows have increased markedly. More that 2 million Afghani refugees have already fled to Pakistan. According to UN spokesperson, Eric Falt, there are a further 7 million people within Afghanistan itself who are now at risk of starvation. As the winter approaches, these people will become increasingly vulnerable. The peanut butter, baked beans and jelly military ration packs presently being dropped from the air by the US military are manifestly inadequate. According to Eric Falt, the promised cash flows from the international community have not materialised, and the UN needs to be able to mobilise adequate relief items immediately. As many commentators have fairly observed, even were the military mission to succeed on its own terms in isolating any Al Qaeda training cells which may remain in Afghanistan and/or killing or capturing Osama bin Laden himself, nevertheless, as a means of adequately addressing the problems posed by terrorism, such a strategy would remain an outright failure. In such militarily charged circumstances, the capture or death of Osama bin Laden would serve, according to these commentators, as an inflammatory signal to the many hundreds of thousands in the Third World who may share his view that their present circumstances are so dire as to warrant the kinds of strategies which have been advocated by Osama bin Laden and his ilk. Thus, in the words of one commentator, terrorism is a many-headed hydra and ironically, an apparent success of the military mission may well serve the purposes of the terrorists. In addition, military strikes and invasions of one country by another or by a number of countries outside of the United Nations are a breach of the UN Charter. In short, we believe that the pursuit of military strikes as a means of dealing with the present situation holds the potential to inflame and therefore increase terrorist responses, rather than to contribute to a resolution. In this context, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Australian Government support for the military option is ill conceived. We are therefore calling for a means of addressing our current difficulties which are adequate, well-directed and capable of success. We believe that more constructive and more thoughtful strategies needs to be pursued. We therefore call on the Australian Government: 1. to use your good offices to work as a matter of the utmost urgency through all available international channels to ensure that the United Nations has the immediate cash inputs necessary to mobilise relief items in order to feed, shelter and provide health care for those at risk in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries
LL:ART: Bomb them with butter, bribe them with hope]
Bomb them with butter, bribe them with hope A military response, particularly an attack on Afghanistan, is exactly what the terrorists want. It will strengthen and swell their small but fanatical ranks. Instead, bomb Afghanistan with butter, with rice, bread, clothing and medicine. It will cost less than conventional arms, poses no threat of US casualties and just might get the populace thinking that maybe the Taliban don't have the answers. After three years of drought and with starvation looming, let's offer the Afghani people the vision of a new future. One that includes full stomachs. Bomb them with information. Video players and cassettes of world, leaders, particularly Islamic leaders, condemning terrorism. Carpet the country with magazines and newspapers showing the horror of terrorism committed by their guest. Blitz them with laptop computers and DVD players filled with a perspective that is denied them by their government. Saturation bombing with hope will mean that some of it gets through. Send so much that the Taliban can't collect and hide it all. The Taliban are telling their people to prepare for Jihad. Instead, let's give the Afghani people their first good meal in years. Seeing your family fully fed and the prospect of stability in terms of food and a future is a powerful deterrent to martyrdom. All we ask in return is that they, as a people, agree to enter the civilized world. That includes handing over terrorists in their midst. In responding to terrorism we need to do something different. Something unexpected..something that addresses the root of the problem. We need to take away the well of despair, ignorance and brutality from which the Osama bin Laden's of the world water their gardens of terror. *(((* Please pass this along. It is important that we learn to think in NEW ways. If we continue attacking in the old ways we will get the same old results. Look at what has been happening the middle east for thousands of years to see what we can expect if we attack with bombs and military force. Do we want to live a life of fear as people in the middle east do? -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Statement on human security by WILPF (Australia)
Statement by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) (Australia) The loss of human life in New York and Washington yesterday is keenly felt. The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) (Australia) sends love and condolences to all those who have lost loved ones in the tragedies. Over recent months, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld have been working hard through all diplomatic channels to persuade the international community that their plan to build a missile defence shield to protect mainland US against rogue states is in the interests of human security. We in WILPF (Australia) have been saying that their plan is not in the interests of human security - either of humans in their own nation state, the United States, or of humans elsewhere in the world. In fact, WILPF believes that their missile defence shield is a plan which, if enacted, would further jeopardise human security by precipitating a new arms race. Clearly the US Administration has not had their eye on the main game. While they have been working to bring other nation states on board to support - or at least not to oppose - their billion dollar missile defence shield, they have failed to take the necessary steps to avert threats to human security through the very simple means of ordinary commercial airliners being turned into weapons of mass destruction. WILPF (Australia) believes that if we allow the present gross inequities in distribution of the world's wealth to continue, we in the affluent nations of the West must continue to expect anger and resentments to be directed against ordinary citizens. In order to ensure human security needs, our leaders must stop allowing a system where 99,000 children die each day. According to the United Nations Human Development Report of 2000, under our present international economic system, 1.3 billion of the earth's 6 billion people are surviving on US $1 a day or less. This is, in and of itself, a violent system violating the right to life of millions of innocent people each year who die due to poverty. While we have an economic and distribution system that allows such disparity and such inherent violence to exist as a normal part of everyday life, we have an extremely unstable situation. As the events of yesterday demonstrate, this instability has now reached volatile proportions. We have all allowed to develop a system which is serving the interests of only a very few multinational corporations. If world leaders truly value human security as they proclaim, then they will have to abandon their cant about barbaric acts of terrorism against civilised nations. To use such rhetoric and to try to posit an enemy other then the real culprit is to mislead people. To permit such racism to flourish is to further undermine our collective security. The real enemy is greed. Of the 100 biggest economic entities in the world today, 51 are no longer nation states but mulitnational corporations. If we are to find long-term and stable solutions to human security needs, then we have no choice but to find a way to share the wealth of our planet fairly among all peoples and to stop allowing a system marked by gross inequities. WILPF (Australia) believes that yesterday's disaster in mainland US is a failure of western foreign policy and economic policy. There has been a vacuum of leadership. In this context, to suggest that further billions of dollars of the world's wealth should be diverted to the boardrooms of the multinational corporations who manufacture armaments is to build a white elephant missile shield. It is a robbery of the world's people and does not make anyone more secure. As the Australian Government under John Howard has been one of the most gung-ho supporters of the proposed US Government missile shield, WILPF (Australia) encourages all Australians, and especially Australian women and girls, to contact your local MP, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, to insist that our real human security needs are met and that the Australian Government ends its support for the irrational missile defence shield. You can write to MPs at Parlaiment House. Canberra ACT 2061 or phone Parliament House switchboard on 02 6277 7111 Contact: Cathy Picone for WILPF (Australia) phone: 08 8296 4357 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: The Global Child
In preparation for the United Nations Special Session on Children, the following is forwarded from UNICEF: The Global Child There are 2.1 billion children in the world, accounting for 35% of the world's population. Some 129 million children are born each year. Globally, 1 in 4 children lives in abject poverty - in families with income lower than $1 a day. In developing countries, 1 in 3 children lives in abject poverty. One of every 12 children dies before they reach five, mostly from preventable causes. Of every 100 children in the world: * 55 are born in Asia (19 in India, 18 China) * 16 are born in sub-Saharan Africa * 8 are born in Latin America and the Caribbean * 7 are born in the Middle East and North Africa * 6 are born in the Eastern Europe, CIS and Baltic States * 8 are born in industrialized countries (Western Europe, USA, Canada, Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand) Birth registration * The births of 33 are not registered. These children have no official existence or recognition of nationality. Immunization * 27 are not immunized against any disease. Nutrition * 32 suffer from malnutrition in their first five years of life. * Only 44 are exclusively breastfed for the first three months of life. Water and Sanitation * 18 have no access to clean drinking water. * 39 live without adequate sanitation. Schooling * 18 of the children never go to school. Of these, 11 are girls. * 25 of every 100 who begin 1st grade do not reach the 5th grade. Literacy * 17 out of every 100 children never learn how to read. 11 are girls. Child labour * 1 of every 4 children between the ages of 5 and 14 in the developing world work. * Half of those who work do so full time. * 8 of the 21 children born in Africa work. * 12 of the 55 children born in Asia work. * 1 of the 8 born in Latin America work. Life expectancy * Globally, children born today are expected to live 64 years. * In the industrialized world, they will live 78 years. * In the 45 countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, average life expectancy is 58 years. * In Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe - countries heavily affected by HIV/AIDS - life expectancy is less than 43 years. Sources: ILO Child Labor Statistics; UNICEF, The State of the World's Children Report (2001 and 2002); UNICEF, Facts and Figures 2000. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: Press release from WILPF International
PRESS RELEASE Krishna AhoojaPatel New International President of WILPF For the first time in its almost ninety year history, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has an International President from the Southern region. Krishna AhoojaPatel has been elected International President of WILPF for 2001-04. Of Indian origin, Krishna now lives in Geneva. For 25 years, Krishna AhoojaPatel has been a staff member of the United Nations (UN), working especially in the International Labour Organisation (ILO). During the UN Decade for Women, Krishna was editor of ''Women at Work'', the only UN journal on working women. The newly elected International Vice-Presidents are from different regions of the world: Lucinda Amara (Sierra Leone), Olga Bianchi (Costa Rica), W. Dulcy de Silva (Sri Lanka) and Liss Schanke (Norway). The International Treasurer, Coby Meyboom, is from the Netherlands. WILPF's recently concluded 28th International Congress (2001), which was originally to have been held in Jerusalem, focused particularly on the Middle East. A special seminar preceded WILPF's International Congress. The two-day seminar concluded by demanding a peace policy to break the deadlock in the Israel/Palestine conflict, based on the implementation of the relevant UN resolutions. The seminar also called on the UN Security Council to appoint a Middle East coordinator for negotiations with representatives from the whole region. WILPF will make efforts to send delegations to meet with heads of state or governments in the area, to promote WILPF's peace policy. In recognition of the serious situation, WILPF has appointed Hanan Awwad, President of WILPF Palestine, to be the special adviser to the WILPF International Officers' group on the question of Palestine. WILPF's program of action 2002-04 focuses on Building a Culture of Peace, as a follow-up to Security Council Resolution 1325 on ''Women, Peace and Security''. WILPF's program also highlights disarmament with a particular emphasis on the planned Missile Shield (NMD); economic and social justice with particular emphasis on the World Trade Organisation; sustainable environment with particular reference to the UN Conference ''Rio + 10'' in 2002; and racial justice. WILPF will send an international delegation, led by Krishna AhoojaPatel, to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban next month. WILPF also adopted various resolutions, including resolutions on Belarus, Macedonia, and on the recent street violence in Genoa. Other resolutions refer to the violence in Colombia, Nepal, West Papua and Western Sahara. The full texts of the resolutions may be obtained from the international secretariat or via the web site at: http://www.wilpf.int.ch For further information please contact: Krishna AhoojaPatel, [EMAIL PROTECTED] WILPF International Secretariat in Geneva, WILPF UN Office NY, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] August 9, 2001 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Women's International League for Peace and Freedom International Secretariat 1 rue de Varembe C.P 28, 1211 Geneva, 20 Switzerland Ph: +41 22 919 7080 Fax: + 41 22 919 7081 Web: www.wilpf.int.ch www.reachingcriticalwill.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: Empowering Women for Peace: Women in Armed Conflict Situations
Dear LL friends, Could you please pass along the following message to any women in your networks/ organisations in South Australia? Saturday 25th November is International Day of Action to End Violence Against Women. Women are warmly invited to join us on that day at the next meeting of the South Australian Branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). At this meeting, Tina Dolgopol (Lecturer in Law at Flinders University) will report on the workshop she conducted on behalf of WILPF at the recent United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) Conference in Hobart. Tina will also conduct a workshop on the same topic: "Empowering Women for Peace: Women in Armed Conflict Situations". Tina has worked for many years in the international lobbying efforts for the human rights of and monetary compensation for the "comfort women", the women who were drafted into sexual slavery work by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Tina has a breadth of expertise having worked in the areas of women in armed conflict situations and the implications for all women of such international initiatives as the International Criminal Court. All women and girls are welcome. You don't need to be a WILPF member to come along. The meeting starts at 2 pm and ends at 4.30 pm. If you'd like to join some of us for a shared meal beforehand, the meal starts an hour earlier, that is, at 1 pm - bring some food to share - a microwave oven is available. Hot drinks provided. Place: WILPF rooms in the Community Aid Abroad building at 5 Hutt Street, Adelaide. No cost. Further information: phone: 8296 4357 Many thanks for passing along this message. all the best, Cathy -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.SK
LL:INFO: Tokyo Tribunal
Dear LeftLink subscribers,
I've been asked to forward the following to our list.
all the best,
Cathy Picone
Forwarded from: Tina Dolgopol [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
!!!COME TO TOKYO FOR THIS HISTORIC EVENT!!!
~~~This is to announce
that the WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL ON JAPAN'S MILITARY
SEXUAL SLAVERY ("Tokyo Tribunal") will take place from 7-10 December 2000
followed by a PUBLIC HEARING ON CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN IN RECENT WARS AND
CONFLICTS on 11 December in Tokyo, Japan.
The TOKYO TRIBUNAL will be a 3-day event where former "comfort women"
(those women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army in
World War II) will testify in a judicial setting to demand legal
accountability from the Japanese government. Prominent international law
experts and authorities will serve as judges and prosecutors. Former
'comfort women' will testify from at least 8 countries including, North and
South Korea, Peoples Republic of China, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia,
Indonesia, and the Netherlands, as it was women from each of these
countries who were victimized by Japan's military sexual slavery.
The PUBLIC HEARING is a one-day event, which will bring together women who
have survived violations in recent and ongoing wars and conflicts. This
will serve to illustrate that the experiences of the 'comfort women' are
not a thing of the past and impunity for violence against women continues
to this day. Women will present testimonies and analysis from many
countries including Sierra Leone, Burundi, Colombia, Puerto Rico,
Indonesia, Mexico (Chiapas), Vietnam, Somalia, Burma, Okinawa, and Korea
among others.
The convenors of the Tokyo Tribunal are the Violence Against Women in War
Network (VAWW-Net Japan) represented by Ms. Yayori Matsui, the Korean
Council for Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan represented by Ms.
Yun Chung-Ok, and the Asian Center for Women's Human Rights (ASCENT)
represented by Ms. Indai Lourdes Sajor. They form part of the International
Organizing Committee, which includes an International Advisory Committee
composed of women and human rights activists.
The one-day Public Hearing will be coordinated by Women's Caucus for Gender
Justice and co-sponsored by VAWW-Net Japan and ASCENT.
Registration is necessary for attending the Tokyo Tribunal. For more
information or to register, please visit the official Tribunal website:
http://www.jca.apc.org/vaww-net-japan.
There is no registration for participating in the one-day Public Hearing.
Please visit the Women's Caucus website http://www.iccwomen.org for more
information about the Public Hearing and the Tokyo Tribunal.
See you in Tokyo!
~~~
If you cannot attend the Tokyo Tribunal but want to support the effort,
your contribution to the local coordinating organization, VAWW-Net Japan,
would be greatly appreciated.
Postal Transfer
Account No.: 00120-2-31955
Account Name: VAWW-NET Japan
Please clearly specify "Women's Tribunal Fund 2000"
Bank name
TOKYO MITSUBISHI BANK
Shinjuku Chuo Branch
Account No.: 3424965
Account Name: Women's Tribunal 2000
N.B. Please do NOT send cheques.
~~~
--
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LL:INFO: World March of Women: final rallies
Forwarded from Lyn Lane and Betty McLellan: Lyn Lane is Australian representative on the International Liaison Committee for the World March of Women and, in the final rallies, Betty McLellan along with Coralie Maclean carried the banner on behalf of other Australian women: "Australian Women Fighting Poverty". Forwarded from Lyn Lane: To all in Australia Today was the culmination of 4 amazing days. This report will be brief as this e-mail service is a challenge to say the least. 20, 000 marched in Washington 30,000 in New York 90 countries represented The meetings at both the World Bank the IMF went overtime. Everyone very courteous, but outcome predictable. i.e. "lobby your countries". UN meeting much the same - but the presentations by the women clearly lifted the tenor. Kofi Annan in Egypt, so we were welcomed by his deputy. At today's meeting we looked at the way ahead. There is a clear wish that the networks mobilised around the March continue - resources permitting. Please I will write more from home - middle of next week. Warm regards Lyn == Forwarded from Betty McLellan and Coralie Maclean: Dear World Marchers, What an absolutely wonderful time we've had! First, in Washington DC on a beautiful sunny day (15 Oct.), we joined 20,000 women (some even estimated 25,000) marching and chanting, marching and chanting till we thought we'd drop with exhaustion. But the air of determination and the solidarity of purpose was totally exhilarating. Then, in New York yesterday (17 Oct.), the scene was breathtaking. We were 60,000 women - of all ages and from all corners of the globe. What a spectacle of colour and beauty and solidarity and strength! After a 2 and a half hour rally led by U.S. radical feminist Robin Morgan speaking in English and a powerful French Canadian woman speaking in French and in Spanish, we marched off from the Square in front of the United Nations building, down 2nd Avenue from 47th Street to 14th Street (about 2 miles) to Union Square. As we marched, there were women as far as the eye could see. Lots of chanting, lots of noise, drumming, whistles, etc. The most popular chant, the one we repeated over and over was "so-so-so-solidarity". After a 2 hour march, there were more speeches and entertainment in Union Square. The whole event went from 11 am till 6 pm. Our Australian banner drew lots of attention and positive comments and the four of us (Margaret Bearlin, Lyn Lane, Coralie and I) were made to feel very welcome indeed. Lyn has been kept very busy as our official delegate and will be reporting to the list on her experiences at the UN meetings. We have all felt very fortunate to be part of such a powerful, worldwide push for women's rights! All the best... Betty -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:DDS: For SA women: S11 from the Inside: Four Women's Views
S11 FROM THE INSIDE: FOUR WOMEN'S VIEWS Mary Heath, Silver Moon, Robyn Downing and Ellie Taylor all took part in the recent protest actions outside the World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne. At the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) meeting on Saturday 28th October, they will form a panel to speak about their experience. Saturday 28th October, 2 pm - 4.30 pm at the WILPF rooms, 5 Hutt Street, Adelaide Optional: shared lunch beforehand starting at 1 pm. (Bring some food to share.) NO COST. ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS WELCOME -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink LL.SJ
LL:PR: World March of Women: women invited to initiate meetings on
October 17th Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Loop: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk 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. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:URL: World March of Women signature card campaign: you can sign
on-line Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Loop: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk Dear friends, The conclusion of the World March of Women and the delivery of signatures to the United Nations in New York on October 17th is rapidly approaching. =46or more details about the campaign, please see the message below. The national coordinating committee would like to remind supporters of the importance of signing and getting others to sign the support cards in support of the World March Demands. In Australia, please forward the cards to: 6 Lancaster Avenue, REDCLIFFE Queensland 4020 by next Wednesday 27th September. We need to freight them to New York on that day. Signatures are also being collected on-line at the World March Web Site. At the moment, we have 2 million signatures worldwide but 10 million is our target. Clearly in this last month of the campaign, we need to generate a vast chain of signatures! To do that, your help is needed. As a gesture of solidarity with the women in 157 countries around the world now involved in the World March of Women campaign, can you please: * sign on-line if you haven't already signed a card? * forward this message to your friends and networks? many thanks and all the best, Cathy Picone national coordinating committee World March of Women 2000 - Australia The World March of Women is an ambitious project involving more than 5,200 groups in 157 countries who are united in activities of popular education and mobilisation for political demands. The World March of Women is calling on the United Nations and its member states to adopt concrete measures to eliminate violence against women and poverty. On October 16th, 2000, a delegation of women from every world region will meet with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Horst K=F6hler, and the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn. On October 17th, during an international rally in New York, the international delegation will meet with UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. At this time, they will present him with signatures gathered from around the world in support of the world demands of the March of Women. The goal of the signature campaign is to gather over 10 million signatures worldwide. Your signature is important and can contribute to creating a more just and egalitarian world. You can sign the support card at this address: http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000/en/carte.php3 Please send this message to all your friends and acquaintances. You can find out all about the World March of Women, from its organisational structure to the demands, by visiting our Web site at: http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000 Join with the millions of women and men who are marching to change the world= ! WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN IN THE YEAR 2000 MARCHE MONDIALE DES FEMMES EN L'AN 2000 MARCHA MUNDIAL DE LAS MUJERES EN EL A=D1O 2000 =46=E9d=E9ration des femmes du Qu=E9bec 110, Ste-Th=E9r=E8se, #307 Montr=E9al (Qu=E9bec) Canada H2Y 1E6 TEL: 1 (514) 395-1196 =46AX: 1 (514) 395-1224 Email:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:QUERY: Can you help us? - quick response needed!
Dear Left Link subscribers, We are now into the last month of the World March of Women 2000 campaign against poverty and violence against women. The World March of Women now involves women in an unprecedented number of countries worldwide: women in 157 countries are working together on the campaign. Women have developed a list of world demands as well as a subsidiary list of Australian demands. These demands include the cancellation of Third World debt, an end to structural adjustment programs, the implementation of legislative frameworks to ensure that rights to pay equity, employment, decent housing, education, health care and social protection, life-long income security and a minimum social wage are protected. As you may know, a central part of the World March of Women campaign has been the collection of signatures on support cards which will be presented to Kofi Annan at United Nations headquarters on October 17th, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Thanks to those of you who have already distributed cards for signature. At this stage, we still have some of these cards remaining to be distributed. In the past week, Lorraine Spears has contacted me to say that after their state-wide day of action against violence against women, the Central Coast Community Women's Health Centre still has over 1,000 cards remaining. Can you please help us distribute these cards? The cards can be signed by women and men. As they need to be returned by September 27th, we need to move the cards very quickly. If you can you help by distributing some of these cards, could you please email me before Wednesday 20th September at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] letting me know how many cards you would like and to what address you would like them to be sent? If you can help us, it would be a valuable contribution to this campaign against poverty and violence. many thanks and all the best, Cathy Picone for the national coordinating committee World March of Women 2000 - Australia Ph: 08 8296 4357 Fax: 08 8377 0706 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] PS If you know of anyone else who might be able to distribute some of these cards, could you please forward this message to them? -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: ACTU Women's Congress Supports World March of Women
Dear Leftlinkers, I thought you might be interested to read the following piece. As you know, the World March of Women campaign is a campaign against poverty and violence. If you could distribute this article among your own networks, it would be helpful to building the campaign. many thanks and all the best, Cathy Picone on behalf of the national coordinating committee for the World March of Women in Australia === ACTU Women's Congress Supports World March of Women At the weekend's Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Inaugural Women's Congress, ACTU President Sharran Burrow formally presented World March Liaison representative, Cathy Picone with the ACTU's endorsement of the World March of Women campaign. The worldwide campaign, initiated by women in Canada, now involves women in 157 countries. Worldwide, 5,000 groups have endorsed its extensive list of demands aiming at the elimination of poverty - which is increasing everywhere in the wake of economic globalisation - and the elimination of violence against women. A lunch time media event arranged for last Sunday attracted a good deal of publicity for the campaign. 160 delegates attended the ACTU Women's Congress over two days - they are active trade union women from all around Australia. In addition, women from other women's organisations also attended Sunday's lunch time rally/ media event. At the rally, women and members of the media - along with the trade union choir - filled the carpark at the front of the Australian Education Union building on Greenhill Road. Bread and Roses - the Rising of the Women Sharran Burrow (on behalf of the ACTU) and Cathy Picone (on behalf of the World March of Women campaign) addressed the rally. Together, Sharran and Cathy then released four white doves while the trade union choir sang "Bread and Roses": "As we go marching marching, unnumbered women dead Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew Yes it is bread we fight for but we fight for roses too As we go marching marching, we bring the greater days The rising of the women means the rising of the race No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes But a sharing of life's glories - bread roses, bread roses!" (Inspired by a banner in the huge 1912 walkout of textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts.) Sharran formally handed over to Cathy a package indicating the ACTU's support of the World March. The package featured a large colour photograph of bread and roses. In her speech, Sharran had talked about the Federation des Femmes du Quebec's "Bread and Roses" March back in 1995 - the starting point for the worldwide campaign. A Lively Media Event The release of the white doves made a lively picture for the TV cameras. Many thanks to the ACTU women for organising an excellent media event. The trade union choir sang a bracket of songs including "Bread and Roses". A vase of tall roses and several loaves of bread displayed on a table nearby made a colourful backdrop picking up the symbolism. Afterwards, the entire group had our photo taken by a photographer who'd climbed onto a high ladder while we all held our WMW2000 signature support cards aloft. In the main hall where the Congress participants met each day and heard from a range of speakers including Sharran Burrow, Helen Creed, Barbara Pocock and Margaret Reynolds, the walls were decorated with brightly coloured union banners. Out the front behind the speakers on the dais, another large banner specially made for the Congress was prominently displayed. That banner centrally featured the World March of Women logo. The TV coverage was very good on Channel 7 and even better (more extensive) on SBS and ABC TV. Would You Like to be Involved? If you would like to distribute cards for signature among your friends and networks, please contact the national organising committee at the address below. The cards can be signed by women and men. The committee is also seeking to involve women interested in initiating small scale grass roots meetings in your workplaces, schools and neighbourhood centres on October 17th, UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty when the seven-month WMW2000 campaign culminates with the presentation by an international political delegation of millions of cards to Kofi Annan at UN headquarters in NY. Any woman is welcome to initiate such a meeting. If you would like to do so, please get in touch with us. For further information, please contact: 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 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] fax: 08 8377 0706 phone: 08 8296 4357 web site for Australia: http://www.uq.net.au/march2000/ web site for overseas: http:
LL:INFO: women participate in World March of Women Aust email list
Dear Leftlink women, As we enter the last two months of the seven-month campaign for the World March of Women in the Year 2000, I'm writing to invite Leftlink women to participate, if you're not already doing so, in the World March of Women Australian information exchange email list. If you'd like to be added to the WMW2000 oz-information email list, please email me at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] As you know, the WMW2000 campaign calls on the UN and its member States to take concrete measures to: * eliminate poverty worldwide and ensure a fair distribution of the planet's wealth between rich and poor and between women and men; * eliminate violence against women and ensure equality between women and men. As I'll be sending this message out widely, I apologise in advance for any cross posting. The committee wishes to acknowledge the Australian Virtual Centre for Women and the Law for making the WMW2000 email lists available. Can you please distribute this message to women in your networks? Applicants may be asked to send a short statement describing their interest in the WMW2000 campaign. Looking forward to hearing from you. all the best, Cathy Picone on behalf of the national coordinating committee of the WMW2000 - Australia -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: World March of Women: Australian reps at US events
Dear friends, As you probably know, the World March of Women in the Year 2000 is a seven-month community awareness campaign involving women in 155 countries around the world. Its two main aims are: the elimination of poverty worldwide, greater equity in the sharing of wealth between women and men; and the elimination of violence against women. The World March of Women was launched internationally on International Women's Day this year and will conclude with a number of events in the lead-up to the world rally in New York on October 17th (International Day for the Elimination of Poverty) when millions of cards from people around the world will be presented to secretary general Kofi Annan at United Nations headquarters. There will also be a mass rally in Washington on October 15th. Part of this march will parade outside the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. General and logistical information on the mass actions in Washington and New York City is available on the World March web site http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000/ and will be continuously updated. In addition, there will be innumerable events of varied formats around the world in most of the 155 participating countries between October 1st and 17th. Around Australia, there will be Women's Song and Dance Fests for women of all cultural backgrounds on Saturday October 7th. For further information about the Australian events, please contact us and we can put you in touch with the organising group in your nearest centre. I'm writing writing now on behalf of the committee to invite applications from women to represent Australia at the concluding events in the United States. There are two categories of application: 1. Women can apply to be representatives of the national organising committee at one or both of the two mass events in the US. It is envisaged that a number of representatives will participate in this capacity. 2. Women can apply to be considered to fill the one vacancy for Australia on the international delegation to meet (on at least two separate occasions) with personnel from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations. In addition, this woman would need to be available to participate in an unspecified number of other meetings to be held in Washington and/or New York between 12th and 18th October. Each participating country can appoint one member to the international delegation team. Although there are now 155 participating countries, it is unlikely that all participating countries will be sending a representative. The IMF, WB and UN personnel will include the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan who has made one and a half hours available for a meeting with the international delegation on 17th October. Applications need to be received in writing (and preferably by email) by Thursday July 13th 2000 at 5 pm. The Selection Criteria are: 1. Demonstrated experience in women's issues 2. Written support of a women's organisation 3. Agree to support articles of CEDAW 4. Ability to self-finance travel and other expenses involved 5. Agree to report back to the national organising committee on outcomes of the US meetings. Applicants should include a copy of their CV and send it to us preferably by email at the address below. If unable to send via email, applicants are asked to include a copy of their application on disk. Please also include contact details: postal address, phone and fax numbers, email address. Please note that since the national organising committee is operating off no budget, the women concerned are expected to pay their own travel fares and other expenses. And finally, the selection of women in the two categories mentioned above will not affect the decision of any individual woman or women who may choose to participate in the mass rallies as individuals since these mass rallies are open to any person wishing to participate. As it will be in the interests of all Australian women intending to travel to the US for the Washington and NY events to be in touch with each other prior to travel, an invitation is also extended to any woman intending to travel to the US for the concluding events to make contact as soon as possible with the national organising committee. Please let us know your name, address, phone and fax numbers, email address; date of departure; contact details while in Washington or NY; which of the two events you will be attending. Women may also be interested to subscribe to the World March of Women, Australian Information email list. If so, please make contact. Many thanks for your assistance in circulating all of this information among your networks. Please feel free to contact us in any case at the address, phone and email below if further information is required. all the best, Cathy Picone for the national organising committee World March of Women - Australia c/o Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), GPO Box 2094, Adelaide, SA, 5001 Phone: 08 8296 4357
LL:DDS: SA women: World March of Women local organising work
Dear all, South Australian women are invited to a meeting of the local group to organise the World March of Women event in Adelaide for Saturday October 7th 2000. The World March of Women in the Year 2000 is a seven-month community awareness event involving women in 155 countries around the world. Its aims are: the elimination of poverty worldwide, greater equity in the sharing of wealth between women and men; and the elimination of violence against women. The World March of Women was launched internationally on International Women's Day this year and will conclude with a world rally in New York on October 17th, (International Day for the Elimination of Poverty) when millions of cards from people around the world will be presented to secretary general Kofi Annan at United Nations headquarters. In addition, there will be a mass rally in Washington outside the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on October 15th. The first local meeting for organising the Adelaide event will be held on Thursday 13th July at 11 am at 5 Hutt Street, Adelaide. Can you please pass this on to any women who agree with the aims of the World March of Women and who would like to help with the work? Many thanks and all the best, Cathy Picone LL.SG -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: participate in the conclusion of World March of Women
Dear friends, Can you please distribute this message widely throughout your networks? This activity (described below) will be in addition to the Women's Song and Dance Fests which will be held around the country in the various centres on Saturday October 7th. many thanks and all the best, Cathy Picone on behalf of the national coordinating committee World March of Women 2000 - Australia World March of Women in the Year 2000 - Australia Invitation to participate in the conclusion of the seven month campaign. Preamble The World March of Women in the Year 2000 (Marche Mondiale des Femmes de l'an 2000, Marcha mundial de las mujeres) was initiated by a group of women in Canada called Federation des Femmes du Quebec (FFQ). In 1995 in the lead-up to the UN's Fourth Women's Conference, the FFQ organised a women's march against poverty. The March was called "Bread and Roses". 850 women marched from Ottawa to Toronto. It took them ten days. Fifteen thousand people turned out to meet them at the end of their march. The women were mobilising community support for a list of demands for an end to poverty and violence against women which were consistent with the United Nations Fourth World Women's Conference's Beijing Platform for Action which was being developed at that time. From that seed, the idea grew - of extending the march world-wide. Today, women in 146 countries are involved with 3,500 groups having endorsed the campaign. We are campaigning for an end to poverty; greater equity in sharing of wealth between women and men; and an end to violence against women. A list of world demands has been agreed and is on the Canadian web site at: http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000. A list of Australian demands can be viewed at: http://www.uq.net.au/march2000/ As Tuesday October 17th is both the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Poverty and the culmination of the seven-month long campaign of the World March of Women in the Year 2000, the Australian coordinating committee for the WMW2000 now invites the women of Australia to contribute to the WMW2000 campaign to end poverty and violence against women in the following way: As a means of marking the International Day for the Elimination of Poverty and the conclusion of the WMW2000 campaign, we are asking women at the local level to initiate small-scale grass-roots style meetings in their own workplaces/ universities/ schools/ communities/ neighbourhoods etc. Any woman can initiate such a meeting. Such a meeting could be held at any time of the day - or night - on Tuesday October 17th. If women are willing to become involved in the WMW2000 campaign in this way, such a meeting could, for instance, be held at morning tea time or afternoon tea in a workplace setting or indeed in any setting which the woman initiating the meeting thinks appropriate. While it is envisaged that such a meeting might last, say, fifteen to twenty minutes, it is of course up to the initiator and the participants if they prefer a longer meeting. Some have suggested that it would be consistent with the principles of the WMW 2000 March that any food provided at such a meeting should be frugal rather than lavish. Morning tea could for instance consist of just a biscuit, perhaps like those eaten by people in impoverished countries. It is also entirely up to the organiser/s of any such meeting to decide the person or persons they will invite to the meeting. In addition, it is the decision of the woman/ women initiating the meeting as to whether the meeting will include both women and men. The millions of signature support cards which are being presented at UN headquarters in New York on that day have been signed by both women and men. Suggested format of October 17th meeting: * remember the traditional owners of the land and recognise that the meeting is being held on Aboriginal land; * bring to mind that the day, Tuesday October 17th, is the UN International Day for the Elimination of Poverty; * bring to mind that the day is also the culmination of the campaign of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 and that the support cards, signed by millions of people around the world in at least 146 countries, are today being presented at UN headquarters in New York; * a go-round: each person takes a turn, without interruption, to say aloud to the group what they think it would be like to live in a world free of poverty; * conclude with an appropriate song (such as the WMW song) or another go-round with each person saying one thing that they appreciated about coming together for the meeting. Please note that these are guidelines only and can be adapted in any way that the initiator of the meeting prefers so long as the format of meeting is consistent with the goals of the WMW2000 campaign. Many thanks for your support for the WMW2000 campaign and for taking the initiative at the local level to see that this meeting happen
LL:INFO: International Women's Tribune Centre: Women's GlobalNet
no. 144 Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Loop: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk Dear friends, Re: International Women's Tribune Centre Women's GlobalNet no. 144 The latest issue of the IWTC Women's GlobalNet, no. 144 focuses on women in peace building and peace making activities worldwide. It deals with the international women's campaign to have "Women and Peace Building" re-instated once more at centre stage after it was lost from the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995: "PEACE was one of the three corner-stones on which International Women's Year (1975) and The Decade for Women (1976-1985) were built, the other two being Equality and Development. Yet PEACE did not quite make it into the Beijing Platform for Action as one of the 12 Critical Areas of Concern. Instead, we have Women and Armed Conflict, which has become the gathering point for women peace activists in the years since Beijing. However, we women would like to see PEACE centre-stage once more, and there has been considerable planning and strategizing to make PEACE a core issue at the forthcoming UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Beijing Plus Five (June 5-9, 2000)." If anyone would like to have a copy of this latest issue of Women's GlobalNet, please email me and I will forward it to you. all the best, Cathy Picone -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:UPDATE: World March of Women contacts' list
Dear World Marchers, For women who want to get involved at the local level - or more involved - in the work of organising for the October 7th main events (Women's Song and Dance Fests - Cultural Sharings) and/ or in the World March of Women campaign against poverty and violence against women, here, as promised, are contact details for the various centres around Australia: DARWIN: contact Treya Derrington (08) 8941 2311 (w) 08 8948 0098 (h) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] PERTH: contact Jo Dillon (08) 9362 3482 (h) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Ruth Ellis (08) 9325 5311 (w) or 0427 650 013 (mobile) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Gianna Cavalli (08) 9381 3144 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] BRISBANE: contact Linda Shallcross (07) 3366 6985 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Mary Ziesak (07) 3880 0164 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Brenda Lewis (07) 3207 0024 TOWNSVILLE: Betty McLellan (07) 4772 6060 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Madge Sceriha (07) 4775 7555 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] HOBART: contact Margot Roe (03) 6223 6152 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Andre Poppleton (03) 6231 3212 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ADELAIDE: contact Marilyn Rolls (08) 8269 3879 or Cathy Picone (08) 8296 4357 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SYDNEY: contact Pam Greer (02) 9699 3517 or Dorothy Buckland Fuller (02) 9968 3910 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Lynne Smart (02) 9749 7700 fax: (02) 9749 4433 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] BATHURST, ORANGE, LITHGOW etc: contact Elaine West (formerly Chalcraft) (02) 6334 2393 (h) (02) 6338 4426 (w) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CANBERRA: contact Ruth Corrigan (02) 4849 4543 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Hellen Cooke (02) 6282 3508 (phone and fax) MELBOURNE: contact Sheila Byard (03) 9376 7870 email:[EMAIL PROTECTED] or Diane Alley (03) 9827 2363 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] CENTRAL COAST, NSW: Lorraine Spears, Central Coast Women's Health Centre (02) 4324 2533 or fax: (02) 4323 7490 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: update on Australian launch - World March of Women
day. It really was a fantastic day." In Townsville in northern Queensland, Betty McLellan organised a launch and rally on Saturday 4th March. In Western Australia, Sarah Stephen (who has represented the IWD Collectives on our c'tee) coordinated delivery of the cards for various launch events in WA including an event organised by Women's Electoral Lobby and National Council of Women. Sarah also organised a launch for WMW2000 at the IWD rally which followed the WEL/NCW event. Jo Dillon (Western Australian branch of WILPF) was the speaker. In Hobart, Tasmania, Margot Roe (Tasmanian branch of WILPF) spoke about the WMW2000 at the IWD rally and organised for the cards to be distributed. In Darwin, Northern Territory, Treya Derrington arranged a launch for WMW2000 at the IWD March there. Treya also had a little table with the cards and copies of the leaflet for people to take. In Adelaide, South Australia, Marilyn Rolls (who represents United Nations Association of Australia, Women's Committee) and Cathy Picone organised and spoke at launches and distributed cards at these and other events. Between us, we covered the trade union women's IWD breakfast, the IWD luncheon, the Greek Orthodox Community's event to mark IWD and the IWD rally on the following Saturday. Marilyn also distributed cards at the UNIFEM breakfast. Beryl Miller of the Union of Australian Women (SA branch) was particularly supportive, making multiple copies both of the poster and of the leaflet for distribution and display. In Canberra, ACT, Dianne Proctor (who represents Australian Reproductive Health Alliance on the c'tee) has arranged for Ruth Corrigan (of the ACT branch of WILPF) to coordinate the grass roots work there. In Canberra, the March was launched at the International Women's Development Agency's breakfast where Hellen Cooke spoke about the WMW campaign. Our media team, (Michelle Beg, Helen Leonard of the Women's Electoral Lobby and Dorothy Buckland Fuller) issued a press release on IWD and Cathy Picone did some radio and print media interviews, including one with a Spanish newsagency and another with "Green Left Weekly". I will attach a copy of the press release. In addition, Dorothy has very good contacts with the SBS radio network - she actually has a weekly talk back radio program in Greek - and several journalists contacted us as a result of her work. There was also a splendid centre spread in "The Guardian" and more is to come; Pam Greer was later interviewed by Anna Pha for "The Guardian". Dorothy was interviewed by SBS in English and in French and used her Talkback Program on SBS Radio for the six weeks prior to the launches to discuss the World March. Dorothy was also interviewed by "The Greek Herald", the largest Greek Newspaper in Australia which has a national circulation. They devoted half a page to the March. In addition, the Anglophone youth-oriented magazine, "Metropolis" interviewed Dorothy and they will print our card in their magazine. Dorothy also wrote an article for the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia and arranged for the distribution of the card through their national magazine. As you know, Barbara Palmer (who represents Women's Rights Action Network Australia on the c'tee) was in New York for CSW so we were pleased that she was able to represent Australian women at your satellite launch there. That was quite a feat - congratulations! - it was also inspiring to hear of Aung San Sui Kyi's support for the World March! Other important "behind the scenes" work has been done by Marie Coleman (National Foundation for Australian Women), Sheila Byard and Diane Alley (United Nations Association of Australia, Women's Committee) - taking the minutes, and by Linda Shallcross and Pam Greer who have chaired our meetings. Elaine West (formerly Elaine Chalcraft - who represents Coalition of Activist Lesbians on the c'tee) has kept our database people informed. And of course, as you can imagine, we owe a big thank you to the many, many women around the country who have distributed the cards and supported other women to do the work which we've managed to do together. We're a great team! ciao! Cathy for the Australian coordinating committee --_-1257813649==_ma Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" For people interested in the World March of Women in the Year 2000 (WMW2000), here below is a copy of the update on the Australian launch events for the March. This is a copy of the report which has been sent to Nancy Burrows of the Federation des Femmes du Quebec in Canada. Nancy is the liaison contact in Montreal for the Asia/ Oceania region. For women wishing to become involved, or more invloved, in the WMW2000 campaign to end poverty and violence against women, a list of women to contact in the various centres around Australia will be distributed via Left Link tomorrow. all the best,
LL:URL: Reaching Critical Will: a WILPF initiative
Dear friends, Following the message which I sent a couple of days ago concerning the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference and the importance of women making our voices heard if the stalled nuclear disarmament process is to be progressed, you might like to surf the following website: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/ Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is working through this "Reaching Critical Will" project to support and encourage effective preparation for and participation in the upcoming NPT Review Conference. Please let us know of any initiatives you or your organisations are able to take in this area. ciao! Cathy Picone -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:AA: Australian Women and Nuclear Disarmament
Dear friends, Your assistance in distributing the information below to women in your networks and organisations will be greatly appreciated. many thanks and all the best, Cathy Picone for Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Australia) Australian Women and Nuclear Disarmament In Beijing in 1995, at the UN Women's Conference, governments gave undertakings for peace and the continued pursuit of nuclear disarmament. At the current session of CSW in NY, where the world's women, five years on, are reassessing progress made on the Beijing Platform for Action, it is opportune that we scrutinise the record of our own government in this important area. Beginning next month, the 2000 NPT Review Conference will be held in New York: 24 April to 19 May. As these review conferences are held only once every five years, Australian women will be presented with a relatively rare opportunity to act on behalf of our children's children to ensure our species' survival. The Current Situation: Nuclear Weapons Still Threaten Us All Despite the end of the Cold War when people all around the world expected advances in nuclear disarmament, we are still threatened by 30,000 nuclear weapons. As former US President, Jimmy Carter has recently observed: "Instead of moving away from reliance on nuclear arsenals since the end of the Cold War, both the United States and NATO have sent disturbing signals to other nations by declaring that these weapons are still the cornerstone of Western security policy, and both have re-emphasized that they will not comply with a "no first use" policy. Russia has reacted to this U.S. and NATO policy by rejecting its previous "no first use" commitment; strapped for funds and unable to maintain its conventional forces of submarines, tanks, artillery, and troops, it is now much more likely to rely on its nuclear arsenal. * =8A American and Russian nuclear missiles are still maintained in a "hair-trigger alert" status, susceptible to being launched in a spur-of-the-moment crisis or even by accident. * After years of intense negotiation, recent rejection by the U.S. Senate of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is a serious blow to global nuclear control efforts and to confidence in American leadership." The NPT: a Bargain Broken The NPT is now thirty years old. It has 187 states parties. The Treaty is the cornerstone of the world's attempts to control the spread of nuclear weapons. The Treaty aims to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons through a bargain. Under the terms of the Treaty, the world's non-nuclear weapons states have agreed not to develop nuclear arsenals so long as the nuclear weapons states proceed "in good faith" towards nuclear disarmament. Thus, the dual goals on the one hand of nuclear disarmament by the NWS and on the other no further spread (by the non-NWS) are a unified whole, a see-saw of sorts. In the words of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, "the goals of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are inherently linked". The nuclear weapons states (US, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France) have broken their part of the bargain. They have not proceeded towards nuclear disarmament. They have broken faith; broken their side of the bargain. They are sitting firmly, leadenly and doggedly on their end of the nuclear disarmament see-saw. Thus, the nuclear disarmament process is stalled. The result has been plain for us to witness. The Treaty has not been able to do what it was designed to do. Nuclear weapons have not been contained; they have spread. Last year, India and Pakistan openly demonstrated their nuclear capabilities joining Israel and the Permanent 5 as nuclear weapons states. Unless we can bring the nuclear weapons states to recognise and act upon their responsibilities under the Treaty to get their end of the see-saw moving, nuclear weapons will continue to spread. The new century and the new millennium promise to be not new at all but rehashes of the old Cold War mindset - military blocs held at bay by mutually assured destruction (MAD). The bilateral nuclear arms reduction talks between the US and Russia (the START talks) are stalled. The Russian Duma has not seriously debated the START II reductions because of the clear belligerence of the US which is even now moving to destabilise the ABM Treaty, implementing a "Son of Star Wars" missile defence system. Just as the START talks are stalled so are negotiations in the CD on the =46issile Material Cut-Off Convention. Unless one of the see saw's ends can make concessions, stalemate will continue. With the recent refusal of the US Senate to ratify the CTBT, the whole nuclear disarmament process threatens to unravel. The weapons-rich kids at the leaden end of the see-saw claim that some of the other kids need to make various concessions before they can let their feet off the ground. But the end of the see-saw which is
LL:INFO: Apology
Dear friends, There was an error in the message I sent yesterday concerning the World March of Women 2000 national organising committee. As there are eighteen, not sixteen, representatives of national women's organisations on the WMW2000 committee in Australia, I owe an apology to Women's Electoral Lobby and the National Women's Media Centre for the mistake. Sorry! Cathy Picone -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:INFO: World March of Women 2000 - Australia
Dear friends, I'm writing on behalf of the national organising committee of the World March of Women 2000 (WMW2000) in Australia. The national organising committee for the WMW2000 in Australia comprises representatives from sixteen national women's organisations and/or constituencies. These organisations/constituencies include two representatives of Indigenous Australian women including one from ATSIC, one representative of NESB women, the YWCA, UNAA Women's Committee, Coalition of Activist Lesbians, National Foundation for Australian Women, Women with Disabilities Australia, Women's Rights Action Network Australia, Soroptimists, Baha'i Women's Network, National Union of Students Women's Committee, Union of Australian Women and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. WMW2000 will be launched both internationally and nationally on or around IWD, March 8. In Australia, launch activities have been arranged in many centres around the country. These launches have been organised cooperatively and in solidarity with IWD Collectives and IWD Committees. The support cards for signature will be available as from the date of the launches. The main activity for WMW2000 will take place in early October. (More details below.) Below is the text of the leaflet re the World March of Women 2000 (WMW2000) in Australia. If you would like to have a version of the leaflet (with graphics) suitable for printing and distribution to your networks and groups, please email me and I will send it to you as an attachment. in solidarity, Cathy Picone on behalf of the WMW2000 national organising committee = World March Of Women 2000 - Australia "2000 Good Reasons to March: Eliminating Poverty and Violence" Fight Poverty! End Violence Against Women! WHY WMW 2000? "By the late 1990's the fifth of the world's people living in the highest-income countries (and that includes Australia) had: * 86% of world Gross Domestic Product (the bottom fifth just 1%) * 82% of world export market (the bottom fifth just 1%) * the world's 200 richest people more than doubled their net worth in the four years to 1998, to more than $1 trillion." (UN Human Development Report, 1999) One billion of the world's present population are living in extreme poverty. Of those, 70% are women. We are campaigning to resolve these conditions. WHO IS TAKING PART IN WMW? Women from more than 143 countries are this year demanding that the UN and its member States take concrete measures to: * ELIMINATE poverty and ENSURE a fair distribution of the planet's wealth between the rich and the poor, and between women and men. * ELIMINATE violence against women and ENSURE equality between women and men. WHEN AND WHERE? In Australia, a national committee comprising many Non-government Organisations (NGOs) is co-ordinating our response for WMW2000. Action begins everywhere with many launches around the country on International Women's Day. Internationally, the seven-month "march" will culminate on October 17 - International Day for the Elimination of Poverty - with a World Rally in New York (NY) when millions of the signed support cards will be presented to Kofi Annan at UN HQ in NY. EVENTS HERE INCLUDE: * Women's Song Dance Fests (cultural sharings) around the country on October 7; * Distribution of support cards to go to the UN. Cards can be signed by women and men; * Numerous other events organised by particular women's organisations and particular constituencies. For example, the Trade Union Women's Congress in August this year will focus on the WMW2000, and the Australian Education Union is distributing an information kit to Australian schools. A group of Australian women will represent us all in New York at the World Rally. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO JOIN US IN THE WMW2000? * Sign and return a postcard. * Distribute cards among your friends and networks. Copies of the card can be downloaded at: www.uq.net.au/march2000/ or obtained by contacting the address below. * Attend the Women's Song Dance Fest in your locality on Saturday October 7. * Get a group of women together to perform an item for the Song and Dance Fest, eg., Indigenous Australian women could sing together, Greek women could sing a Greek song, Lebanese women could perform a dance, women of Jewish heritage could sing a Jewish song. * Ensure that NGOs you belong to have endorsed the March - encourage public events in support of it. * Make a donation. We need money to print more support cards. Donations are tax deductible. Cheques should be made out to the National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) and sent to the address below with a note as follows "I wish my donation to go to WILPF (Australia) for the World March of Women 2000". FOR MORE INFORMATION: World March of Women (Australia), c/o WILPF, GPO Box 2094, Adelaide, SA, 5001 Phone: 08 8296 4357 E-mail: [EMAIL
LL:INFO:International Seminar on Women Workers - Globalisation and HumanRights
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) will be holding an International Seminar on Women Workers - Globalisation and Human Rights, 29-31 July 1999 at Radisson Europe Hotel and Conference Centre, San Jose, Costa Rica. Anyone is welcome to attend this seminar. For more information, please contact me by email at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cathy Picone Joint National Coordinator WILPF, Australian Section Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
