This year the Global Fund for Women turns 15 – an occasion that is surely cause for celebration, particularly as we look at the extraordinary accomplishments of our grantee partners around the world. Yet, this newsletter comes to you at a time when our pride in the achievements of the international women's movement is overshadowed by an escalation of militarism and violence in every part of the world.
Headlines scream with news about the global war against terrorism. But while leaders and armies mobilize on contested borders, the vast majority of the world's people are concerned about a very different form of terror. This is the terror wreaked by poverty, illiteracy and hunger. At the frontline of this war are a courageous and unsung group of heroes – women. Although women and children make up more than 70% of the world's poor, it is also women activists and community leaders who are leading the struggle for economic justice. These women know that lasting peace can be built and sustained only on strong foundations of justice and equality. As long as 1.3 billion people live on less than a dollar a day and the richest fifth of the world control more than 82% of the world's resources (UN Development Programme), there will be fertile ground to sow seeds of hate, religious extremism and violence. Women around the world are demanding that governments and international institutions realize these connections and wage a collective war against poverty, ignorance and injustice. Such a war would ensure economic justice for all – equal work for equal pay, decent and safe working conditions, and fair trading opportunities for the world's poorest nations.
The women's organizations working on these issues are mobilizing for economic justice in their communities. In this newsletter you will read about a number of groups that are making a real difference by producing and selling natural medicines for communities in Brazil, and providing skills training courses tied to tangible income-generating projects in Tajikistan. In Korea, part-time and contract workers who are excluded from traditional unions are organizing themselves to advocate for workers' compensation and unemployment. In Cameroon, Fulani women have reclaimed their traditional dairy practices by breaking into the male-dominated pastoralist industry.
It seems only fitting to honor the achievements of courageous women like these at our upcoming 15th anniversary celebration. On behalf of our grantees, advisors, and the Board and staff of the Global Fund, I invite you to join us on November 15th, 2002, for a special event honoring the women of the world. Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, Executive Director of the African Women's Development Fund, will serve as mistress of ceremonies. The program includes a keynote address by Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; a performance by renowned playwright Eve Ensler; and stories from women's rights activists around the world (click here for 15th Anniversary information). We hope that our friends and supporters in the Bay Area will join us in this effort to raise significant funds for our grantee partners and to celebrate their contributions.
