Text read at the end of the international preparatory meeting to the WMW that took place in Montreal in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We, women in attendance at the International Preparatory Meeting for the World March of Women in the Year 2000, proclaim our solidarity with those women who are ridiculed, marginalized, deprived of every human dignity, and who are forced to live in inhuman conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights we honour and affirm our solidarity with women, who in their respective countries, defend women\u2019s rights as human rights; with peace and democracy activists, and with writers in their struggle against censorship and for freedom of expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today we honour:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through them we pay tribute to millions of women who work anonymously to defend and promote women\u2019s rights so that we can participate fully in improving our societies. We want to build societies based on equality with men, societies that take into account both what we have in common with men and our differences, that is, our specificity as women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We salute the courage of aboriginal women the world over, who have experienced oppression for centuries as well as economic, political and social discrimination. We support our Indigenous sisters in Guatemala so that the government agrees to the founding of the Office in Defence of Indigenous Women, which is a commitment stemming from the Peace Accords. We also support our sisters from Mexico, particularly those from Chiapas who are facing the consequences of growing militarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We remember also the women victims of male violence. We stand together against:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We stand in solidarity with the feminist activists who call for the recognition of the abuse of women that occurs in the context of armed conflicts and in occupied territories and who insist that sexual violence be legally condemned in all countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We express our solidarity with women living under occupation, in particular Palestinian, Lebanese, and Tibetan women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are outraged when we witness, yet again, the systematic rape of women being utilized as a war tactic, this time against women in Kosovo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are in solidarity with African women who demand the end of violence against women and children. They are the first victims of armed conflicts in Africa and are demanding to be included in the peace negotiations processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We stand with Black Mauritanian women, victims of the apartheid system instituted by the regime of Ahmed Ould Taya, president of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are in solidarity with Algerian women and celebrate their courage and determination in the struggle for peace and democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We join in solidarity with the Rwandan activists who have struggled to have crimes against women recognized and defined as crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We denounce the world community\u2019s inertia in the face of the horrific situation of Afghan women \u2014 ultimate proof that the current human rights discourse has left us out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We denounce the inclusion of the Shari\u2019a Law in Pakistan\u2019s 15th Constitutional Amendment of October 9, 1998, that threatens to eradicate the small gains in rights and freedoms made by the women of Pakistan up to now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We call upon the international community to pressure the Indian armed forces to stop committing crimes against the women of Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We want to convey our solidarity with the women of Timor, victims of massacres committed by Indonesian invading forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We denounce the economic embargoes in Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Cuba \u2014 embargoes that increase the feminization of poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We support our Mexican sisters\u2019 fight against the federal government\u2019s corruption, which results in further impoverishment of the people and of Mexican women. We also support non-governmental organizations in the North struggling to destroy the impunity surrounding the murder of over 100 women in Ciudad Ju rez in the period of one year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We back the initiative of Colombian women\u2019s organizations that stage the Vigil for Life and Peace on the 18th day of each month, in the quest for a peaceful solution to the armed conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We stand with the activists who are fighting so that in their last remaining years, the Filippina, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Taiwanese, and Dutch \u201ccomfort women\u201d are recognized and compensated for the suffering they endured as sex slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. We support them in their quest for justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We support the efforts of women in the Philippines, Japan, Okinawa, and Korea who are demanding changes on American military bases so that they cease being propitious environments for acts of violence against women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all the struggles we have before us, we want to mark some victories that give us the strength to continue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, we stand together and commit ourselves to continuing the struggle, each in her own country, to break the silence of all those women who have died in anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We cry out far and wide our determination to continue down the long road towards peace, justice and democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solidarity with Women All Over the World<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, October 18, 1998<\/p>\n\n\n\n