Women s priorities came out loud and clear in the 7-month long World March of Women, which started on Women s Day. The march in which some 5,000 groups from over 150 countries took part was initiated by the Quebec Women s Federation, headed by Francoise David, who explains march s demands. Under the theme of poverty, one demand is to cancel the debt of the 53 countries who are the poorest countries in the world. We also ask each country to adopt a law, who will have as a goal to eliminate poverty on all aspects education, access to land, access to water, access to jobs for women, a law who indicate really that the struggle against poverty is a priority. Under the theme of violence, in fact what we want is to see the states adopt, ratify and put in action all the conventions, all the declarations we have now at international level around the question of violence.
Women are concerned with more than economic and social issues.
One of the women featured in it is Mary Brownell, a retired school teacher turned leader of the peace movement, known as Liberia Women s Initiative, which played a key role in the democratic process in that country. What we had said, we didn t want anybody to become President of Liberia through the barrel of the guns. You are not going to shoot your way through. You want to be President, put down your guns, go to the ballot box. If the Liberian people have confidence in you, and elect you to be President, we promise you wholeheartedly, the Liberian women will accept you and work for this country.