*{ http://www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000/en/3eintro.html 24 aout 2002 3rd International Meeting of the World March of Women October 2-6, 2001 Montréal, Québec Canada } -- *partie=titre Another step forward in the struggle to end poverty and violence against women *partie=nil -- WORKING PAPER (EXCERPTS) This working paper is addressed to all national coordinating bodies and the two networks who are members of the International Liaison Committee (ILC) of the World March of Women. -- In the following pages you will find the information you need to participate in the 3rd international meeting of the World March of Women, scheduled for October 2-6 of this year. This working paper is addressed to all national coordinating bodies and the two networks who are members of the International Liaison Committee (ILC) of the World March of Women. It was written in collaboration with members of the Preparation Committee who were present in Montréal from June 13-15, 2001: Michèle Spieler, Switzerland; Mathilde Kayitesi, Rwanda; Miriam Nobre, Brazil; Leonor Concha, Mexico; and Shashi Sail, India as well as Françoise Viau and Odette Lepage from the Canadian March Committee, Vivian Barbot and Thérèse Hurteau Farinas from the board of directors of the Fédération du Québec and Carole Lejeune, Sapho Morrissette, Lorraine Guay, Ana Maria D'Urbano, Charlotte Thibault, Renaude Grégoire, Marie-France Benoit and Véronica Amberg from the World March of Women Coordinating Committee and the work team. Please excuse us for the length of this document, but in order to lay the groundwork for the October meeting we had to take the necessary time to properly set out the debates and questions. During the June meeting, the committee identified subjects to address in October and the nature of the decisions that we must make at the meeting. In so doing, we considered the discussions held on October 18 in the New York City and on the electronic discussion forum since May of this year. For each subject, there is a summary of the discussions and questions you will need to raise with March participating groups in your country/territory or network before the meeting. Your role is to organize the necessary consultations so that your representatives are as prepared as they can be before coming to the meeting in October. Goals of the October Meeting: - Complete the global political evaluation of the World March of Women in the Year 2000; - Consolidate the work that was begun in the context of the World March of Women; - Decide on our goals and a plan for future actions; - Discuss our world platform and our analysis based on current issues; - Adopt a development plan (structure and funding) The working paper will serve as the basis for our discussions. We are not looking to rewrite it, but to be inspired by it in making our decisions. Throughout the document we tried to identify the questions we need to deal with in October and the issues that we should begin to examine or develop further. Other working tools may be developed for the meeting, but they will all be based on this paper. The main goal of the 3rd international meeting of the World March of Women is to consolidate the action movement created by the March. Our success in reaching that goal depends on everyone's active participation in preparing the meeting. Please do not hesitate to send your questions or suggestions to the Preparation Committee. We look forward to meeting you again in October and continuing our work to end poverty and violence against women. In solidarity, The Preparation Committee *{ 3rd International Meeting of the World March of Women October 2-6, 2001 Montréal, Québec Canada -- Another step forward in the struggle to end poverty and violence against women -- WORKING PAPER (EXCERPTS) GENERAL INFORMATION -- } Who can participate in the meeting? The 3rd international meeting of the World March of Women being held on October 2-6, 2001, is limited to representatives of national coordinating bodies and the two networks who are members of the ILC i.e., the Native Women of the Americas Network and the Women's International Democratic Federation. The Preparation Committee made this decision because of the number of coordinating bodies expressing ambivalence about the idea of inviting new networks to join us. We think it is preferable, as do other women, to consolidate the March first and have a thorough discussion about membership before inviting new networks to join. We also know that several networks (regional or international networks, in particular) are already participating groups in the March and the meeting in October will certainly provide additional information on this subject. Participation for each coordinating body is limited to two representatives, including countries where there is a representative on the International Liaison Committee. This figure was proposed in order to ensure a better balance between all participating countries and to take logistical concerns into account. Countries or territories where there is more than one coordinating body are asked to observe the maximum of two representatives. There are a few countries with more than two coordinating bodies and they are asked to send one representative per organization, but this is considered an exception. There is also a subregional coordinating body in the African Great Lakes region that wishes to send a representative. We have agreed to this request, recognizing that the March organization is not entirely symmetrical and that some situations merit an exception. These, however, are the only exceptions that we can accept at this point. We cannot allow observers for the same reasons. An exception will be made for observers from Québec. They will be limited to 20 women and are members of the Coordinating Committee and the board of directors of the Fédération des femmes du Québec who will be present in order to meet the representatives and hear the discussions. We have included an Appendix with the list of countries with and without a coordinating body. Participating groups in countries without a coordinating body will be contacted in August and encouraged to form a coordinating structure so they may participate in the meeting. -- MEETING AGENDA -- Below, you fill find the agenda for the 3rd international meeting of the World March of Women, to be held October 2-6, 2001. AGENDA Tuesday, October 2 Goals for the day: - Sharing and discussion on the national evaluations - Adopt the main elements of the global political evaluation of the World March of Women (all-day plenary) a.m. Word of welcome (President of the FFQ, Preparation Committee), Introduction on the goals of the meeting (general goal: consolidation of the March and future prospects), the agenda and process. Begin sharing one or two examples of how the March brought change, based on the context of the country: advances in the status of women, of the women's movement. p.m. Continuation of sharing and discussions on the overall lessons, gains, etc. of the March in order to list and adopt the main elements of the global political evaluation. -- Wednesday, October 3 Goals for the day: - Arrive at a common analysis of the current context and the alternatives we should develop to continue the struggles against poverty and violence against women a.m. (plenary and regional workshops) Panel (current context and alternatives) of 4 women (2 for each theme: poverty and violence against women). Followed by regional workshops to fill out and develop the panel's presentations. p.m. (plenary and language-based workshops) Presentation of the questions from the working paper concerning the goals and alliances of the World March of Women. Followed by workshops organized by language for discussion on our goals and alliances -- Thursday, October 4 Goal for the day: - Agree on the goals of the World March of women, our alliances and our world demands (All-day plenary) a.m. Reports from the workshops on goals and alliances (decisions and overall direction) p.m. Presentation of the world demands section of the working paper. Discussions in plenary on the world demands of the March (decisions and overall direction) -- Friday, October 5 Goals for the day: - Adopt an action plan and a media strategy a.m. (plenary and language-based workshops) Presentation of the actions and media sections of the working paper. Followed by workshops. p.m. (plenary and language-based workshops) Plenary on actions and media (decisions and overall direction). Followed by regional workshops (starting at 3:00 p.m.) on structure and funding that may be continued in the early evening. -- Saturday, October 6 Goals for the day: - Agree on a development plan for the structure and funding of the World March of Women; review our work plan and evaluate the meeting. (all-day plenary) a.m. Workshop reports and plenary on structure and funding (decisions and overall direction) p.m. Review of the decisions to consolidate the World March of Women. Work plan for the year. Summary of the week's work. Evaluation -- FACILITATION AND DECISION-MAKING Responsibility for organizing the meeting should be shared by women from around the world in order to meet our objectives of democratic functioning, diversity, and leadership sharing. This is why we formed the Preparation Committee, and we encourage you to participate in the discussions on our electronic discussion forum. We also hope that various women will take on particular responsibilities during the meeting. Facilitation will be assumed by several women and, we hope, by women from different countries. We ask those of you who know skilled facilitators within your group to contact us between now and the end of August. We plan to form a facilitation team for the plenaries composed of roughly five women who will take turns facilitating the plenary or assisting the facilitator. Interested women should arrive at least a day early. It is preferable that representatives not assume the role of plenary facilitator. Please inform us as soon as possible if a woman in your coordinating body is interested and able to participate in this team. We will form a facilitation committee at the end of August. In addition, we will need facilitators for the workshops. We also want to assure an equitable representation of the three languages (French, English and Spanish). This will be reflected in the facilitation and in the language-based workshops. The facilitation committee will propose procedural rules for the plenary (right to speak, vote and decision-making). They will be sent in advance to the electronic discussion forum for discussion and adoption. A facilitation guide will be developed for the workshops and distributed to the facilitators according to the subject matter being discussed. Another step forward in the struggle to end poverty and violence against women -- WORKING PAPER (EXCERPTS) QUESTIONS TO BE DISCUSSED IN OCTOBER This section should be studied in consultation with the groups in your coordinating body. Your representatives should have a mandate for each of these subjects. We encourage you to give them a flexible mandate in order to permit discussions and consensus building. Also, we ask that you use the electronic discussion forum to inform us of your proposals or questions as soon as you have had your discussions. This will be very useful for preparing the meeting. -- *{ Political Evaluation Goals of the World March of Women Alliances World Demands Actions Media The structure of the World March of Women Funding Conclusion } -- POLITICAL EVALUATION In an attached Appendix you will find a preliminary report based on questionnaires completed by 49 national coordinating bodies. This represents a first step in the process of arriving at a global political evaluation of the World March of Women. During our meeting in June, the Committee realized how difficult it is to come up with an exhaustive evaluation of the March. There are so many elements to consider, and the evaluation tools and criteria are not uniform. It is clear, therefore, that in October, we must discuss the overall observations issuing from the questionnaires, but we must also identify the underlying lessons and qualitative changes observed at the national and global level. This last element is particularly important because the political evaluation of the March must be more than simply the sum of what happened in the countries. We must also evaluate what happened at the international level. We therefore invite you to answer the questions that follow. We also ask that you bring any materials that could enrich the global evaluation. During the meeting, your representatives will have the opportunity to make a concise presentation of your national political evaluation (by identifying one or two particularly significant elements in terms of advancing women's rights and the women's movement in your country/territory). After the meeting, we must produce a document that will highlight the diverse facets of our political evaluation. QUESTIONS What changes do you observe since the World March of Women? In particular, two levels of change: improvement of women's status in your country/territory and the strengthening of the women's movement in your country/territory or region. What is your evaluation of our action at the world level? What do you think the March accomplished at this level? What is your political analysis of the impact of the March at the world level ? -- GOALS OF THE WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN The goals of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 were first determined for a global action project with a specific time limit. The goals were as follows: 1- To stimulate a vast movement of grassroots women's groups so that the march becomes a gesture of affirmation by the women of the world; 2- To promote equality between men and women; 3- To undertake a vast process of popular education during which all women can analyze by and for themselves the causes of their oppression and the liberating alternatives that are possible; 4- To highlight the common demands and initiatives issuing from the global women's movement relating to the issues of poverty and violence against women; 5- To force governments, decision-makers and members of civil society to support and institute the changes necessary for improving the status of women and women's quality of life the world over. These goals are still relevant for the consolidation phase of the movement. Still, determination of the goals for the second phase of the World March of Women should be carried out, among other things, by reflection on our primary mission. Also, the global evaluation should help us to identify what distinguishes the World March of Women from other movements. Here are some initial thoughts: To begin with, we must reaffirm that the ultimate goal of the World March of Women is to struggle against poverty and violence against women. While some groups wish to add issues like peace, AIDs, discrimination, etc., no one has proposed to replace one or the other of our central issues. The first goal of the World March of Women in the Year 2000 was to stimulate a vast movement of solidarity among grass-roots women's groups. The principal of uniting grass-roots groups is still important, but for the other part of this goal, we have entered a second phase of the March, where the movement needs to be consolidated. Since the dynamism of 2000 has subsided more in some regions than in others, we must also provide new impetus for the March. At the October meeting we need to clearly identify why we are together and what we want to accomplish together. In this respect, we must define more clearly the role of the World March of Women and its areas of action (for example: relationship with anti-globalization groups, alert network, tool for mobilization during international conferences) The March distinguished itself by linking the issues of poverty and violence against women. In practice, that means that many participating groups identify more closely with one or the other issue and favour different forms of action. We also wished to link class and gender analysis in the identification of the causes of poverty and violence against women. To a somewhat lesser degree, we integrated an anti-racist analysis. Another distinguishing characteristic of the March was that it proposed a world action with a focus on popular education. Some groups wish to continue actions based on our own agenda rather than in reaction to institutions like the UN and others. Other groups would like us to take advantage of international conferences as forums for mobilization, education and action to advance our demands. Everyone, however, shares the conviction of the importance of collective action. These specificities, positioning and role must be reflected in our goals. We believe that in October we must reaffirm our general shared analysis and define our primary mission and general goals for this second phase of the March. At the same time, we must recognize that our analysis is constantly evolving and that it will never be defined once and for all in any single document; We have tools such as the document that was presented to Kofi Annan in which we describe the world in which we want to live. We encourage you to reread it. Our discussions in October should advance us in our quest to establish the extent of our shared thinking. QUESTIONS How would you describe the primary mission of the World March of Women? What goals do you propose for the second phase/follow-up/continuation of the World March of Women? Explain. Do you agree with keeping poverty and violence against women as our central issues? Explain. Do you agree with the three areas of action mentioned above(relationship with anti-globalization groups, alert network, tool for mobilization during international conferences)? Do you accord equal importance to each? Explain. Should some be more important? Why? When? How? At the national or international level? Should we have a goal that is directly linked to contemporary globalization? How would you formulate it? -- ALLIANCES In the next stage of the March, we must also position ourselves with respect to other movements and international networks, as much in terms of establishing possible alliances and collective actions as to clearly establish the specificity of the March's principal mission. It is also important that we have a thorough knowledge of the networks that are already participating in the March and see how we can mutually strengthen our analysis and actions. Some alliances are short-term and will be determined based on the action we undertake. Others are more associated with our goals, for example, the links with groups who have taken leadership in the current anti-globalization movement at the international level (ATTAC, Via Campesina, Global South, 50 Years is Enough, World Social Forum). In October we must talk about who we want to ally with, why and when. To do this, we ask that you identify the regional or international networks that exist in your region of the world, indicate which ones are members of your coordinating body and describe possible links with the March in your country/territory. We do not think that we have to decide precisely with whom we wish to work, but rather agree on some principles. This will provide an overall direction on which to base decisions with respect to invitations we receive to send representatives to various bodies. We also need to decide in the short term, how we wish to participate in the World Social Forum organizing committee meeting coming up next January. QUESTIONS We were invited to participate in the organizing committee of the World Social Forum to be held in Porto Alegre in 2002. How should we continue in this work? How do we want to be represented at the World Social Forum? Do we want to organize actions in each country? Organize a day-long seminar to discuss the links between poverty and inequality, the links between sexism, capitalism and racism? To what degree do we want to engage in collective action with the above-mentioned groups? How are we going to ally with the other networks of women or feminists working on the issues of trade and the economy? How do we work with the other networks working on the issue of violence against women or women's rights? Do we need to make specific approaches? With whom? Why? Do you have other suggestions for alliances? -- WORLD DEMANDS The March evaluation questionnaire and above all, our experience reveal that one of the principal strengths of the World March of Women is the diversity of groups and women represented and united through a common platform. At the meeting in New York City in October 2000, several delegates proposed to modify the platform, while others were against any changes. Clearly, everyone remembers the discussions of October 1998 concerning the demands and wishes to avoid repeating a similarly divisive experience. Still, the next meeting will be confronted with the difficult task of conciliating the different positions or finding a means of acting in various forms of coalition. Clearly, we cannot pretend that there are no proposals to add or change the world demands. Some regions of the world wish to address more specifically the issue of women's health or AIDs. Others wish to continue discussions in order to integrate the demands regarding lesbians' rights, or to more explicitly deal with the issue of abortion. We must deal with these requests in spite of the reservations that have been expressed. We must also review some of our demands with respect to the evolving world situation. Some women have proposed reworking the world demands by adding more elements of analysis. In this respect, during our June meeting, we talked about the idea of working over a longer period of time on a statement of principles. It could be related to our primary mission, and we can imagine that such a statement could come out of our discussions in October. In the meeting, we could concentrate on discussing and sharing our analysis (the origin of the idea of a panel on Wednesday morning to talk about the current context and perspectives or alternatives concerning poverty and violence against women); the statement could be written later. With respect to the platform, different suggestions have been made since the meeting in New York City: - have a more exhaustive platform of world demands, based on which we would determine annual action campaigns linked to one or more specific demands (for example, those most likely to be won, or those requiring the most popular education); - rediscuss whom we must address in order to reach our goals of ending poverty and violence against women, and review our demands in consequence. Many women think, for example, that we need to review our position with respect to the international institutions and begin addressing the WTO and businesses or transnational corporations who are major political and economic players at the heart of increasing poverty, wealth concentration, environmental deterioration, etc. Others also want us to address men as a group because in order to end violence against women, a commitment is required on the part of men. We think that in October, we must take the time to have in-depth discussions about our analysis (on the current context, to whom we should address ourselves to end poverty and violence against women, etc.) and, subsequently, identify what changes we want to make to our world platform. QUESTIONS What do you think about the idea of drawing up a statement of principles to accompany our world demands? What do you think of the idea of having a broad platform that would serve as a basis for annual action campaigns? To whom should we address our demands? Should we address other bodies or groups? What mechanisms should we adopt to evaluate and monitor the progress of our world demands? What work can be done by national coordinating bodies to advance our demands at the national or regional levels? What changes do you propose to the platform? Why? What process do you propose for building a consensus around demands such as those concerning lesbian rights, reproductive rights, sex trafficking? -- ACTIONS The World March of Women was successful in creating a rich, mutually reinforcing process between the local, national and international levels. The pluralism and diversity of participating groups enabled us to take into account socio-political differences between regions and countries/territories. Our identity or public face is not only linked with our goals and platform, but also with the actions we carried out: the coordinated popular education campaign based on our platform, the widespread use of the WMW logo, the establishment of a power base and the pressure we brought to bear for the adoption of public policy reflecting our demands-all this is part of the strength of the World March of Women. We have already, in our first phase, achieved coordinated actions on a global level and the adoption of many national platforms in addition to the world platform. At the regional level, in Europe and in central Africa, women organized coordinated regional actions and adopted a regional platform. We think this is an interesting model that could perhaps be adopted in other world regions. As we mentioned in the section on goals, for the second stage we are proposing to locate our actions within three areas of intervention: -action in coordination with the anti-globalization movements (continue to participate in gatherings opposing the agendas of the World Bank, IMF, WTO, etc.); -monitor observance of women's rights and form an alert network to act on "flash points" around the planet; -mobilization during international conferences organized by the UN or other international institutions in order to provide a feminist mobilization and action alternative. These choices of action are obviously intimately related to our analysis of the current context and discussion on our primary mission. For the October meeting we have identified a few strategy questions needing debate. First of all, there is a consensus that the March allowed the women's movement to firmly position itself within the movement of action and mobilization around globalization. There is also a desire to give more visibility to the presence of women and feminist demands within this opposition movement to current globalization practices. This requires participation in mixed groups and the organization of specific activities for the women's movement. In order to keep up with the increasingly full schedule of international gatherings, we must depend on the active involvement of the national coordinating bodies in the countries hosting the event, as was the case with the 2001 World Social Forum in Brazil, the Peoples' Summit last April in Québec, or the G8 meeting in Genoa. World March coordinating bodies can play a fundamental role in mobilizing the women of their country around these events. Many of these events propose simultaneous actions in many countries. We are also being called on to participate in the development of alternatives in groupings such as the World Social Forum, Via Campesina, etc. QUESTIONS How do you envision this work? How can we maintain an equilibrium when working with mixed movements, so that we preserve our specificity? On what issues, when and where do women of the WMW wish to engage in collective action with allied organizations? When do we want to act on our own? Why? When and how do we want to be represented by an international delegation when we are participating in the construction of alternatives to current globalization? Do you have specific actions to propose that we can bring to these mixed groupings? Are you ready to mobilize women in your country/territory to participate in national or world actions addressed to the G8, WTO, World Bank, IMF, etc.? How should the WMW be represented during global actions? As for the second area of intervention, we think that in order to maintain our specificity, we need to come up with more original and effective ways of responding to the numerous cases of women's rights violations arising at the national and international level. Acting as an alert and monitoring network should consist in more than sending support messages and petitions via e-mail. These actions are very important, but they are already being accomplished by a number of other networks. For example, the European coordination body has discussed the idea of intervening in the Middle East crisis by sending a mission of feminist observers to meet with women there and determine solutions. We could choose one or a few situations meriting the organization of such missions that could be the responsibility of a national coordinating body or network, with other groups of the WMW taking part or making contributions from within their own countries. QUESTIONS What do you think of this action idea? Would you be willing to take responsibility for coordinating such a mission? In what situation? How can we act as a collective voice and action at the international level in response to specific situations (for example, Afghan women)? What mechanism can we develop for responding quickly and effectively to diverse political situations and events? The third area of intervention is the mobilization of grass-roots groups on the occasion of international conferences organized by the UN or other international institutions with the aim of advancing and defending feminist proposals and alternatives concerning women's rights. Feminists from many countries participate in these conferences, but the March could bring its particular contribution of an international feminist platform. Among other things, we could work to ensure that issues such as reproductive and lesbian rights be properly presented, because these issues are usually neglected in this setting. Groups working on violence against women and women's rights groups, in particular, see these conferences as a way of advancing women's rights and providing tools for the struggle at the national level. Others believe that we should not see UN conferences as a useful place to intervene. First, because this institution imposes an already overflowing agenda (conference on funding development, the series of social +10 conferences) and also, because this work is defined essentially within the parameters of international diplomacy. The work consists mainly, therefore, in a monitoring and lobbying role and for some women, this does not fully represent the nature of the March. We will probably have a good debate on the usefulness of international conferences and the kinds of action we can do in this context. In general, some women view these gatherings as excellent opportunities to make contacts, further develop our analysis, and propose alternatives and actions, as the March did in 1995 in Beijing. QUESTIONS What do you think of this forum as a place to advance our world demands? What kinds of action, both national and global, could we propose? How would we establish our presence as the World March of Women? Through the participation of national coordinating bodies? Do we want to send a specific delegation? Should we select specific conferences among the list? Which ones? Why? Regardless of the area of intervention, when we determine and adopt our action plan, we think we should preserve the particular strength of our feminist action network which involves national actions in tandem with a world action (simultaneously or in series) based on shared demands. Our common political commitment, as expressed in our platform, is to change the economic and social paradigm and critique neoliberal policies. We want to focus more on the causes of poverty and violence against women. This is why we must talk about strategy in October. For example, there has been a proposal that we set ourselves a timeline for a pressure campaign on the international institutions (UN, IMF, WB) and challenge them on their commitment to cut poverty by half by 2015. We could, for example, plan various campaigns demonstrating the feasibility of eliminating poverty; we could also establish indicators for evaluating their progress and plan actions for 2005 and 2010. Some women consider the 2015 timeline as too restrictive and even not very useful. We know that urgent measures are needed to ensure access to drinking water and food, among other things. Some women think it is therefore unacceptable to set a 15-year target. We think that the Wednesday morning panel will also provide us with inspiration for the discussions we need to have before coming to a decision about future actions. We talked about the importance of a world action organized by the World March of Women in 2005. We need to find an original idea that will remind everyone that the March continues and that women have not stopped moving forward. Leading up to 2005, we could work on strengthening national and regional actions and developing initiatives in the three areas of action mentioned above. We could also carry out smaller-scale actions in October to highlight the presence and activity of the World March of Women, building a crescendo until 2005. Another possibility is to undertake various short-term global campaigns linked to our demands, such as the debt, taxing financial speculation, the International Criminal Court, etc. These campaigns could involve us in developing educational tools or proposing specific actions. QUESTIONS Do you agree with the idea of adopting an action plan that would include national and international actions? Do you have any suggestions for strengthening the link between local or national actions and the world demands? What are the best ways to advance our world demands? What strategies would you employ in priority? Would you agree with an action with a timeline such as the one for 2015? Explain. Do you agree with annual global campaigns? Which ones would you propose? Do you think we should develop the idea of regional action strategies as an answer for regional demands? What do you think of the idea of repeating world actions in October to maintain our visibility and consolidate the action of the World March of Women? What rhythm of actions do you propose? -- MEDIA Evaluation of media coverage of the WMW actions varies greatly from one country to the next. In some countries, the larger actions were covered, mainly in the written media, but coverage did not always reflect the message we wished to convey to the public. For the second phase, the World March of Women needs a media strategy in order to publicize our existence and advance our demands. Naturally, the primary responsibility for contact with the media is assumed by, and should continue to be assumed by each national coordinating body. Still, since the media are increasingly regulated by conglomerates based in the U.S. and Europe that distribute images and news for the majority of countries, it is important to be able to reach these agencies. During 2000, the WMW coordinating team sent news releases to the national coordinating bodies and we had a media relations officer for the world actions. We must find a way to assure contacts with the international media in the present context of reduced resources. We need a communications plan that includes the strengthening of our relationships with women journalists and links with alternative and mainstream media. We can, among other things, tell each other about the journalists who provide good coverage of our events. We must develop a media strategy linked to the international actions that we will adopt. Our first media work will be related to the international meeting and the activities of the week of October 17, 2001. Please let us know, by the way, if you are planning an activity this year. We propose to send a news release to national coordinating bodies two weeks before the meeting and we ask that you hold a press conference to announce the meeting and your action, if applicable. Journalists will be invited to attend some parts of the meeting. On October 6, at the end of the meeting, we will write a news release that you can bring back with you and distribute in your country. We will also hold a press conference to announce our principal decisions, even if the impact of this press conference will probably be restricted to Québec and Canada. QUESTIONS Did you use the news releases sent out by the international team? How can we obtain more media impact globally? Do you agree with the media activities proposed for the October meeting? Do you have suggestions concerning a long-term communications plan? Are you planning an activity for the week of October 17? What is it? -- THE STRUCTURE OF THE WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN Born of an initiative of the Fédération des femmes du Québec in 1996, the World March of Women rapidly spread across the world. It now belongs to thousands of women around the planet who are associated with the 6000 participating groups, most of whom are grouped in 112 national coordinating bodies. The evaluation of this historic action reveals a unanimous desire to maintain, consolidate and relaunch the World March of Women as a global feminist action movement. The socio-political context characterized by neoliberal, capitalist, sexist, racist and environmentally destructive globalization; the enormity of the obstacles facing women, especially with respect to poverty and violence against women; and the experience of mobilization acquired over the last four years are factors that politically justify the continuation of the World March of Women. The international meeting held in Montréal in 1998 decided on a decision-making structure for the World March that met the need for democratic and effective operation at the time. This structure was rooted in three elements: - the board of directors of the Fédération des femmes du Québec that held administrative and financial responsibility for the World March (the March was from the start a project of the FFQ with no independent legal status). The FFQ set up the secretariat of the World March as a coordinating body. Over the past few years this secretariat was composed of approximately ten employees. There are three full-time workers at the moment. - the coordinating committee of the World March composed exclusively of representatives from Québec, responsible for carrying out the March. The secretariat and various work committees (strategy, mobilization, media, funding, etc.) reported to this coordinating committee; - the International Liaison Committee, composed of 44 members (regional representatives and two networks) selected during the October 1998 meeting, responsible for relaying information on the March to the different regions; members were responsible for leading consultations and stimulating activity in the diverse regions. The evaluation reveals a number of weaknesses or functional problems with these structures that need to be taken into consideration. Also, because the context has changed and the World March now belongs to all its participants, it is necessary to propose new structures that will respond better to the need for participatory democracy, flexibility, transparency and effectiveness. A first step in this direction was taken at the annual meeting of the FFQ on June 2 and 3; they unanimously voted for the creation of a new entity that will be distinct and independent of the FFQ, with the FFQ taking responsibility for assuring a period of transition over the coming year. The hope is that the March will become an organization with its own structure. The FFQ will be an active member, but will no longer assume responsibility. A second step was taken during the meeting of June 13, 14 and 15, when women from outside of Québec who are members of the committee responsible for preparing the international meeting of October 2001 met in Montréal. The following proposal issues from an initial study of the issue by women at this meeting. We are putting this hypothesis out for debate. We don't pretend to have solved all the problems that need to be addressed in order to transform the World March of Women into an autonomous international structure. We are therefore approaching the question of structure with a new perspective, propelling the March toward major changes. We remind you that last October, women expressed the need to have a flexible structure, reflecting a spirit of open-mindedness and creativity. Broad principles supported by the World March of Women A structure should be anchored in a direction and principles that are shared by the participating groups. We propose to root the new structures in the same direction and principles that have guided the World March of Women since the beginning: - The March is an autonomous movement of women, independent of any party or organization having ties with government; - The March is composed of grass-roots women's groups of all origins, nationalities, and orientation (political, cultural, sexual, etc.) and of all social conditions; - Mixed groups may join, but women must have the leadership in actions linked to the March; - The March promotes the autonomy of groups and national coordinating bodies while ensuring respect of the demands and political direction at the world level. The international meeting of the World March of Women The World March of Women organization will be officially created at the international meeting of October 2001 in Montréal. The main goal of this meeting is to to create and consolidate the World March of Women as a feminist, autonomous and global action movement. It will bring the World March of Women closer to becoming a non-governmental organization (NGO) independent of the FFQ. Decision-making structure The international meeting of October 2001 will be the first decision-making assembly of representatives of national coordinating bodies and the two networks members of the ILC, while taking into account the current composition of the International Liaison Committee. The decision-making assembly will discuss adoption of the following development plan: - that the International Liaison Committee be dissolved and replaced by an Executive Committee (or Executive Commission) composed of ten representatives; - that members of the executive committee be elected at the international meeting in October based on the principle of geographic and cultural diversity; - that a World March secretariat be formed. At the beginning, the secretariat could be located in Montréal to facilitate the implantation stage, but the goal would be a secretariat that would rotate throughout the world as soon as financing permits; - that we set a one-year deadline for legal incorporation with a constitution and by-laws; we should also study diverse structural models adopted by similar networks or organizations. Role and mandate of the executive committee and secretariat The mandate and role of the executive committee are to: - assure execution of the direction and decisions adopted by the decision-making assembly, in coordination with the board of directors of the FFQ during the next year; - support the secretariat; - exhibit initiative for advancing the world demands; - assure transparent, democratic and participatory administration. The secretariat of the March will work under the supervision of the executive committee and carry out the decisions and mandates conferred on it by this body. Follow-up and evaluation of actions and accomplishments of the March We propose to hold a second decision-making assembly of the World March of Women no later than 2005. Its primary goal will be to: - report on world actions (during the transitional period of 2001 to 2005); - report on the state of the world demands; - adopt a new strategic development plan. The importance of communications The World March of Women organization must be constantly concerned with the issue of communications. National and regional coordinating bodies that were formed in the context of the March (112 at this time plus the European and African Great Lakes coordinating bodies) wish to be more involved from now on in the decision-making process. In this respect, the Executive Committee and the Secretariat should work on consolidating the electronic discussion forum or other communications tool to facilitate discussions and consultations. This concern should be central to the work of the Executive Committee and Secretariat. QUESTIONS Do you agree that the October meeting will be the meeting to found the World March of Women as an autonomous entity? Are you in agreement with the overall principles underlying membership to the World March of Women? Should we invite other groups or networks to participate in the March? Which ones? Why? Would their membership be the responsibility of the national coordinating bodies or should their be a direct connection to the international level? Do you agree with the proposed decision-making structure? Do you agree with the role and mandate of the executive committee and secretariat of the March? Explain. -- FUNDING Up to this point, fundraising for the accomplishment of the world actions has been assumed by the Fédération des femmes du Québec. We are very proud to have succeeded in carrying out this world-scale action with what was, after all, fairly minimal funding. We can say that we were effective administrators. During these years, we succeeded in diversifying the sources of funding for the March and respecting certain ethical considerations. For the second phase, we believe it is important that we aim for greater financial autonomy for the March, while still respecting certain principles. We would like to produce a fundraising guide for the October meeting. At its last general meeting, the Fédération des femmes du Québec committed to furnishing the necessary support to assure a transition to the creation of a legal entity that would be structurally and financially autonomous. In the next year we must identify sources of funding that will enable us to achieve our goals and carry out our actions. In October, we will propose a financial development plan covering a period of several years. We believe that in this new phase, we must also view fundraising as a collective responsibility. This may mean that national coordinating bodies would be asked to incorporate into their budgets a contribution for work done at the international level. This contribution could be made through a percentage of the coordinating body's budget or through percentages by world region. We might also share responsibility and tasks for fundraising based on the particular actions undertaken. Clearly, we must continue to share information on our fundraising experiences and new sources to investigate. Some women have proposed to organize public activities that would serve both an educational and a fund-raising purpose; this could even be envisioned for the international level. Without a doubt, funding for the World March of Women will continue to be a challenge. QUESTIONS What do you think of the proposal that national coordinating bodies contribute to support work on the international level? How should this be implemented? Do you have other suggestions to help finance the March secretariat? Do you agree with the principal that fundraising is a collective responsibility? -- CONCLUSION As you see, we have enough discussion topics to amply fill our five days of meetings. We remind you of the importance of putting your questions, proposals, and answers to the questions raised in this document on our electronic discussion forum or to send them to us before the meeting. The Preparation Committee will use these elements for more detailed preparation of the meeting and facilitation. We repeat that all suggestions concerning content and format of the meeting (subjects, facilitation, parallel activities, etc.) are welcome. Naturally, if you are also willing to accept tasks in order to implement one or more of your ideas, all the better! Another step forward in the struggle to end poverty and violence against women -- *partie=titre EVALUATION OF THE WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN IN THE YEAR 2000 *partie=nil PRELIMINARY REPORT This document is intended as a summary of the first observations made on the basis of the data compiled from the questionnaire sent to the 112 national coordinating bodies that participated in the World March of Women in the Year 2000 and to the 2 networks who are members of the ILC. Of the 114 questionnaires sent out, 49 were returned and served to take an initial look at the conclusions reached by the coordinating bodies regarding the event. This in turn allowed us to put together some observations and conclusions. We need to say right from the start that the questionnaire cannot serve to make a political evaluation of the March; still, despite its imperfections, the data collected are a very important and rich source of information that will be added to subsequently. The document is divided into five parts, following the order used in the questionnaire and echoing the main objectives of the World March of Women in the Year 2000. 1- Stimulating a vast solidarity movement among grass-roots women's groups such that the March becomes an act of affirmation by the world's women The scope of grass-roots participation Generally speaking, the establishment of grass-roots women's groups in the countries that answered the questionnaire was widespread in that 48% of those countries have over 200 women's groups. Although not all existing grass-roots groups took part in the World March of Women, the breadth of participation was great and, in some instances, far surpassed the expectations set initially at the national and international levels. To assess the effect of the March on groups, we need to look at the goals of the national coordinating bodies, some of whom did not intend to contact all the women's organizations in their country. Besides, it would be utopian to think every group everywhere in the world could be reached. What is remarkable is that the March managed to contact 6000 groups in 161 countries. In addition to examining the extent of participation, we must also think about the "quality" of the groups' participation. After all, participation by a few could still be first-rate in terms of commitment, its representative nature, etc. *partie=titre Representing diversity *partie=nil The groups taking part in the March were extremely varied. Even though the three types of regular groups (autonomous women's groups, trade union groups and women within a mixed group) were the most widely represented, a large number of young people and women's church groups took part, along with-although to a lesser extent-Native women, women artists and lesbians. Apart from these groups a whole other gamut of organizations was involved in the March: from women farmers to journalists, craftswomen, women from cultural minorities, scientists, etc. Of note was women politicians' participation, which is surprising since the March's policy was to exclude parliamentarians and women from political parties, unless they formed the women's committee of such a party. The groups, moreover, focus on very different problems. Whereas violence and poverty are the centre of attention (with a larger number of groups working on violence than on poverty-39% and 24.5%, respectively), their actions are aimed at many other problems. For example, the subjects of peace and health come up often and, on occasion, the issues of immigration, education, the environment; in short, all spheres affecting the lives of women directly or indirectly. Thus the groups who took part in the March were not working solely on the questions of violence and poverty but on all sorts of issues beyond the two main demands of the March. What emerges to characterize the participating groups then is that the March unfolded under the banners of plurality and diversity; the groups contacted and involved in the event were diverse, and the problems they were working on varied enormously. *partie=titre Stimulating a vast solidarity network *partie=nil Fifty-eight percent of the national coordinating bodies that responded to the questionnaire were successful in reaching all the regions, counties, districts and departments in their respective countries through grass-roots groups. This percentage may not seem high, but it is important to bear in mind that some countries lacked financial and human resources and experienced communications and transportation difficulties so that they could not reach some areas. In this context, it is impressive that 58% of the respondents managed to contact every zone of their country. Apart from the endeavour nationally, there was great satisfaction internationally over the fact that all regions of the world were covered by the event and took part in it. The national coordinating bodies' challenge of contacting as many groups and regions as possible was not made easier by the state of the women's movement before the March. Thirty-one percent of respondents considered that the movement in their country was fragmented before the March; 14% felt that it was divided and another 14% that it was inactive. Only 29% described it as active and 12% as united. The figures on the state of the women's movement before the March and the March's impact on it indicate that the event was the occasion to rally the groups and unite them within each country (82%) and, albeit to a lesser extent, within the world's regions (57%) and across the planet (53%). There are myriad examples of how the March rallied groups. In many cases, it meant working together on a common project, bringing together groups that had worked on their own until then, creating ties of solidarity with groups in other countries, mobilizing women around common demands, beginning a dialogue between Southern and Northern countries and also between Eastern and Western ones, demonstrating the strength of collective action and growing solidarity, allowing little-known associations to become more visible, etc. *partie=titre General comments *partie=nil For many countries the number one objective-to stimulate a vast movement of solidarity among grass-roots women's groups such that the March became an act of affirmation by the world's women-was achieved, despite the problems encountered such as some financial difficulties and a certain lack of coordination between countries. Nonetheless, the March enabled women's groups to establish ties of solidarity and to unite; it afforded them the occasion to make their voices heard and to mobilize around demands common to all women the world over. -- 2- To work on the national scale to identify demands related to poverty and violence against women and to start acting to get them implemented *partie=titre Commitment to drawing up a national platform *partie=nil A large proportion (87.5%) of the national coordinating bodies that answered the questionnaire drew up a national platform, even though half of them had never had this experience. Although the groups taking part in the March remained autonomous, most of them decided to join in the project and the collective effort to list their demands. The effort invested in drafting the platforms extended over a considerable period of time since the process was begun very early on and, in most cases, lasted several months. The platforms were drafted on the basis of consultations with grass-roots groups (71% of the coordinating bodies), discussion (59%) and collecting the demands (49%), which means that the participating groups gave their input into drafting their national platform. In over 80% of cases, classifying common demands in order of priority was possible. For the remaining 20%, a consensus could not be reached, either because all the demands were deemed equally important and therefore impossible to order by priority, or because some coordinating bodies kept to the world demands, or because different groups did not agree on the priorities and each defended the one they thought most important. The different countries' platforms were directed at a wide variety of individuals, groups or structures, but in very large measure they were aimed at the government or politicians. Difficulties in drafting the platforms were common in terms of both content and logistics; they varied according to each country's context, but the countries were virtually unanimous in saying that they lacked human and financial resources. Some also were short of time since international deadlines forced them to build consensus among groups quickly in order to come up with a national platform that would represent all of the groups. These three factors-lack of financial and human resources and lack of time-threw up other obstacles to drafting a national platform, for example, the problem of contacting parts of the country, the cancellation of events, the lack of efficient means of communication, and the lack of opportunity to put out popular education tools to explain the demands in accessible terms. Still other factors compounded the situation such as problems related to language, bureaucracy, and the refusal of some groups to endorse certain demands. Widely diverse actions The participating countries organized a very large number of actions that took many different forms. Often, over a long period of time, single or sustained actions were staged, for example, seminars, marches, signature campaigns, workshops, press conferences, festivals and popular meetings. In their multiple forms, the actions reflected countries' degree of commitment in that so much effort was required to organize and stage them. Action was not only organized around the World March; each country, on its own scale and in its own context, held many activities to raise people's awareness and inform and mobilize them. Different strategies were used to reach as many women as possible. *partie=titre Actions of great scope and impact *partie=nil Although the actions organized were numerous and took many different forms, not all regions of countries witnessed activities in connection with the World March. Considering the lack of funds, human resources and time, and problems contacting the whole country due to communication and transportation difficulties, this is not a surprising finding. Many popular education tools were produced in the process of organizing actions. They took a wide variety of forms: posters, exhibits, discussions, radio and television programs, education guides, brochures, videos, etc. Initiatives came in a great variety of forms to inform as many people as possible about the March and the demands. In addition to the popular education tools, information about the March was also conveyed through the media covering the event. In general, most countries considered media coverage quite good: 36% thought it was excellent, 48% rated it as average and 17% felt it was mediocre. Media content was seen as relatively good: 34% rated it as excellent; 57%, average; and 9%, mediocre. Although coverage of March events was not judged excellent by everyone, the ratings were very satisfactory when we consider that in some countries the media do not cover women's actions at all and thus coverage of the March represented a significant step forward. *partie=titre Many-faceted gains *partie=nil The many gains made with respect to decision-makers, women in general and the population at large often involved increased awareness, mobilization, information and negotiating ability, all of which resulted in the strengthening of the women's movement on both the domestic and worldwide scale. At a personal level, women's self-esteem grew, we were recognized as interlocutors, and the March gave us legitimacy to negotiate and strength to defy the international powers that be. The event also made us aware that together we can have an impact nationally and internationally. Thus a qualitative leap was taken. Progress can be measured in terms of popular education, but examples of concrete gains and gains in relation to the demands and ongoing struggles are difficult to assess and it is necessary to put them in context. This leads us to wonder about the impact of a March that, although it is a worldwide event, cannot bring the same gains to women everywhere. Some countries describe having contact with their government as a gain, whereas, for others, holding a meeting with government to present demands would be seen more as a given than a gain. When speaking of different countries' achievements in relation to the March, therefore, it is important to put things in context and measure gains using each country's data and also the objectives they set for themselves at the start. What is more, at times the results consisted of small gains that the national coordinating bodies did not necessarily mention in the questionnaire. It is difficult to attribute to the March certain gains that women began to fight for long before the March. One sure thing, however, is that beyond the gains that must be taken in context to grasp their importance, the March allowed for the development and strengthening of groups and the bolstering of the women's movement. *partie=titre General comments *partie=nil Even though there is still work to be done, most of the coordinating bodies think that the second objective of the March was achieved. Through the March, women became aware of their role and commitment to society but it also involved and mobilized them. The coordinating bodies did what they could given their specific context and the resources available to them, and precisely because of these differences, the results obtained are not of the same kind or of the same importance for everyone. Thus it is difficult to break down the concrete gains made. -- 3- To promote our world demands by presenting them wherever decision-makers and communities must take them into account *partie=titre Adopting the world demands *partie=nil Most of the coordinating bodies have a good command and knowledge of the world demands and only a handful said they were not familiar with them or had little command over them (7%). All of them were aware of the world demands, worked on them and told the grass-roots groups about them. Most included these demands in their national platform and only 14% of those who answered the questionnaire did not include them. However, many coordinating bodies did not include all the demands but rather made a selection of those that fit in more closely with the reality of their country. Some demands created difficulties, particularly the one on the Tobin tax that was mentioned by a number of countries, but especially the question of sexual orientation. The latter was often brought up as a major problem because it clashed with the country's culture, mores and customs; its inclusion with the other demands was therefore strongly opposed. Over and above the lack of consensus on some demands, all the coordinating bodies agree that the world action should be continued to press for the demands. Many options on how to do this were suggested but most centred on working at the national level, while at the same time maintaining worldwide solidarity, continuing to apply pressure, continuing to try building consensus around problems, organizing other ways of fighting, maintaining some form of coordination, trying to influence global policy, expanding the network, etc. The suggestions made are many and varied, but virtually all the coordinating bodies suggested that action continue in different ways, both at the national and local levels, and also at the international level by maintaining the link established between the countries, which constitutes a source of strength when pressing for demands. *partie=titre Many sources of support *partie=nil The signature campaign was an important part of the World March, which would explain why some countries were disappointed over the number of signatures collected (55% of the coordinating bodies said they were dissatisfied with the number while the remaining 45% were satisfied). The dissatisfaction expressed by over half the countries with respect to a campaign conducted in many different ways, in particular through the mobilization of grass-roots groups, is often attributed to a lack of financial and human resources, but also to insufficient time to amass the target number of signatures. Other obstacles encountered had more to do with the specific context of countries, for example, a low literacy rate that made it difficult for people to read the support cards; the holding of elections, which meant that the March was overshadowed; or language problems and difficulties having documents translated. The signature campaign, which was carried out in all the countries, was supported by different groups and personalities, as well as being backed in many other varied ways. *partie=titre Participation in world actions *partie=nil The great majority of coordinating bodies (85%) were generally satisfied with the actions carried out worldwide as part of the March. Many were impressed by the breadth of worldwide mobilization but also by the organization of such an event, linking up with countries throughout the planet. Dissatisfaction with some of the actions was centred on the poor response of institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the UN (even though managing to meet with these institutions was considered an achievement). In addition, many women who came from very far away to take part in the March events in the United States were disappointed in the poor turnout of U.S. women. Just over half the coordinating bodies that answered the questionnaire (53%) organized national actions on October 17 in solidarity with the women of the world and in support of the women marching in New York. The number was not greater because funds were lacking to organize support activities; because it was vacation time or a national holiday in some countries, which detracted from mobilizing for the World March; or because the delegates were taking part in the world events in the United States and their presence there was a way of backing the March. *partie=titre General comments *partie=nil Many coordinating bodies said they were satisfied that the third objective had been achieved, but they shared their concerns over the future. After all, for many of them the world actions are just a step in pressing for demands and we must decide what to do to keep up the pressure on policy-makers. For many of the coordinating bodies, to have succeeded in taking the demands to the highest national or international level is an unprecedented event and they worry about this giant step fading away if follow-up is not assured. -- 4- To undertake a vast process of popular education during which all women can analyze by and for themselves the causes of their oppression and the alternatives that are possible *partie=titre The breadth of popular education actions *partie=nil Most national coordinating bodies (86%) organized popular education actions. They varied from debates, television and radio programs to workshops, seminars, exchanges of experiences, etc. The aim was to reach as many people as possible and tell them about the objectives and actions of the World March of Women in the Year 2000. *partie=titre Relevance and use of tools *partie=nil The coordinating bodies generally rated the popular education tools put out for the March as excellent or good, the Advocacy Guide and the support cards being the mostly highly praised. Breaking down the utilization of the tools, we see that several of them were used frequently in a variety of circumstances. This was the case with the Advocacy Guide, the support cards and, to a lesser but significant extent, the song, the action sheets and the letters to the World Bank and the IMF and to Kofi Annan. The Mosaic was not used very much, but the documents used least often were definitely the one on the rights of lesbians and the one on sex trafficking. *partie=titre General comments *partie=nil It is important to note the degree of satisfaction over the quality of the popular education tools and how diversely they were used. Indeed, for many coordinating bodies the tools were a great help in preparing their own national tools or as aids in national actions; they also led to new discussions and public awareness. However, some coordinating bodies did have problems with the documents, particularly language problems, but also the content was not always accessible to everyone. -- 5- Organizational and structural operations *partie=titre The role of the International Liaison Committee *partie=nil Three quarters of the national coordinating bodies are completely familiar with the structure of the International Liaison Committee, set up in October 1998. This implies, of course, that a quarter of the countries believe they are not very familiar with the ILC, and the question then is what was missing for everyone to learn about the Committee's workings. Many coordinating bodies were apparently satisfied with the way the ILC transmitted information and with its role of stimulating action. Reaction was less positive regarding its ability to ensure thorough consultations. Some coordinating bodies thought consultations should have been conducted on a larger scale and at more appropriate times so as to take all women's opinions into account-although everyone acknowledged that this would demand a huge amount of time and organizing on the ILC's part. Women do want to be consulted and participate fully in discussions and decision making, and they want to have time to discuss documents. Thus, some of the suggestions made by coordinating bodies on different ways of proceeding to achieve the various objectives were: greater participation by representatives from each country at March preparatory meetings, more individual contacts, more consultations, establishing alliances, setting up representation by country instead of by world region. Although coordinating bodies expressed great satisfaction over the ILC's work and recognized the magnitude of the task, many said they would have preferred to be more involved, consulted more often and have closer ties with the ILC. *partie=titre The national coordinating bodies' work *partie=nil Whereas 97% of the national coordinating bodies that answered the questionnaire said they were satisfied that these bodies were set up, 69% think they should have been more closely involved at the international level in transmitting information, in consultations, etc. Still, the role the national coordinating bodies played was essential to bettering the organization and publicizing of the March throughout the world for the following reasons: they were quite structured and enabled groups to come together and get organized; they led to greater participation by women; they made possible united action and created bonds of solidarity; they ensured concerted action at the national level and the March's representative nature; they were the link with the international level; etc. Decision-making process regarding what was presented to the World Bank/IMF and the UN The fact that a large proportion of coordinating bodies (over half) did not participate in drafting the documents presented to the World Bank, the IMF and the UN, or in discussions and decisions regarding the action to stage at the World Bank/IMF in Washington, can be explained in large measure by the lack of resources and time needed to become familiar with the issues and give an opinion. This is why the most frequent suggestions made about the collective and democratic process to reach a position, draw up a document, choose an action, etc. revolve around having more time to conduct thorough consultations and having more human and financial resources to do the job. It is also important to ensure good communication between the ILC and the national coordinating bodies and between the latter and grass-roots groups so that everyone is consulted and gives their opinion on different matters, and the feedback is relayed to the ILC. Many coordinating bodies were of the opinion that the March's way of operating was very democratic (49% that answered the questionnaire, as compared with 10% that considered it was not democratic) and participatory (65%), but a fairly large number considered that it was quite centralized (27% versus 22% that thought it was decentralized) and would have preferred to be more involved. *partie=titre Communication tools *partie=nil On the whole, the countries greatly approved of the communication tools, even though for some, material conditions prevented access to certain tools (the Web site, for example). The large majority of coordinating bodies (91%) appreciated the frequency of communication with the Montréal office, which sent out the necessary information and kept in touch regularly with each one of them. *partie=titre Funding *partie=nil Most countries were able to participate in the March thanks to funding from different sources, mainly contributions from groups and foundations, and also government grants. Yet, despite this financial help, 79% of the countries that answered the questionnaire wound up with a budget deficit. *partie=titre A work in progress *partie=nil Eighty-seven percent of the national coordinating bodies that answered this question intend to continue working through various means such as activities to fight violence against women and poverty, following up what governments are doing about the March demands, setting up a women's organization serving as an interface between civil society and the State, drafting proposed legislation on domestic violence and many other actions. Among the coordinating bodies that completed the questionnaire, 39% were of the opinion that the World March of Women was a very great success, 54% that it was a great success, and only 7% thought it was not entirely successful. Despite the different constraints many groups had to face throughout, the objectives set forth at the outset were surpassed by far. The great majority of coordinating bodies were satisfied with the actions staged since, thanks to these actions, women and also legislators and the population at large were informed, sensitized and mobilized, and women everywhere were able to raise their voices for the world to hear. This coupling of the world and national dimension is extremely important, because we know that women everywhere on the planet are fighting for the same cause. One of the March's strengths is without a doubt that it was simultaneously a world and national action, which meant the demands became implanted at both levels. Another factor that can explain the March's success and the national coordinating bodies' satisfaction is that the March was rooted in each country but it allowed countries to make their own choices and stage their own actions. This way of doing things resulted in both individual gains-through the March women raised their self-esteem and could engage in legitimate negotiations-and collective gains such as the development and strengthening of organizations as well as concrete gains. This was a process of individual and collective empowerment and thus both individual women and women's movements grew stronger through the March. For some coordinating bodies, there was no time to truly finalize all the March had proposed since success and financial resources began to arrive when the March was drawing to its close. There is a need therefore to continue the movement propelled by the March. The conditions to do so exist since the March paved the way, created alliances, united women and women's groups on all continents behind a common undertaking, namely, to eradicate poverty and violence against women.