International Women’s Day

On 8 March, women, children and men from all over Sussex are set to make history by joining together on the Norfolk Bridge, Shoreham by Sea, to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. We will be calling for an end to violence against women in war-torn countries across the world, including Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, two of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman.
 
Last year over 20,000 people, including from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, Canada, Mexico and Belgium, took part in the first ever global Join Me on the Bridge campaign www.womenforwomen.org/bridge with 119 events including in. In 2011, hundreds more events, with thousands more people, are being planned.
 
The global campaign is being organised by Women for Women International www.womenforwomen.org, a charity that helps women in areas of conflict to rebuild their lives, with a coalition that includes Amnesty International, the Fawcett Society, Oxfam and Women’s Aid, CARE, Global Changemakers at the British Council, U8, Save the Children, the White Ribbon Alliance and the Women’s Institute.
 
The concept is simple; women, men and children whether it’s 3, 300, 3000 or more can join together on a bridge near them and hold up banners asking for an end to violence against women in war-torn countries and for them to have better representation at the peace table.
 
Here’s a link to coverage of last year’s global event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_MeGKKAWs8

Please join us at the Norfolk Bridge, Shoreham on the evening of Tuesday 8 March. The event will convene at 6pm at Ropetackle Arts Centre where we will show a short film before going onto the bridge. Afterwards, if you have time, we hope you will join us back at Ropetackle, as the bar will be open for us.

It would help us to have an idea of the numbers attending, so please take a second to click on this link – COUNT ME IN – to register your interest and we will keep you updated. If you would like to lend a hand (there’s not that much to do but we do need to organise banners, white balloons, candles and the press), please tick the relevant box.

Feel free to come with any friends who would like to support this event. And please pass this invitation on to any individual or organisation you think might be interested in joining us. Here’s a link to WFWI UK if you’d like to find out more, or to support them in other ways.
 
This is going to be a fantastic event to raise the awareness of the plight of these women and the fantastic work carried out by Women for Women International and I hope to see as many of you there as can possibly make it.

Ariana Gee
Local organiser

Return To News Page