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Save the date: International Women’s Day – 8th March 2011
Following the phenomenal success of our first ever Join me on the Bridge campaign on International Women’s Day, 8th March 2010, we are very excited to announce that we will be organising another Join me on the Bridge campaign next year. Again, it will be on International Women’s Day – and next year will be even more special as it’s the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.
We are planning to organise big events in New York, London, Sydney, and after last year’s success we’ve had many people contact us to say that they would like to organise bridge campaigns.
Please sign up now to let us know that you would like to take part in Join me on the Bridge on 8th March 2011 – we’ll then be able to confirm which bridge event is closest to you, and keep you updated of all the developments so you can get involved in making banners, and other activities leading up to the bridge campaign.
mybridge@womenforwomen.orgHere's a flavour of the events that were held on International Women's Day 2010.
New York City:
Thank you to the hundreds of women and men who celebrated in City Hall Park after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City this International Women's Day!
The Brooklyn Bridge was practically covered with supporters from end-to-end! We sang, danced and came together as one asking for peace and change for women worldwide. Mayor Bloomberg spoke to the crowd showing his support and awe at how many supporters showed up!
The walk ended in City Hall Park in a celebration featuring Women for Women International Founder and CEO Zainab Salbi, Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, Model Naomi Campbell, and Tim Gunn from Project Runaway.
A Big Thank You!
On the podium in City Hall Park, Co-President's of kate spade new york Deborah Lloyd and Craig Leavitt showed their support by bringing more than 100 members of their staff out for the Bridge campaign and for the HAND IN HAND partnership.
Deborah Lloyd said “I have joined you all on the
bridge today because every woman has a story and I want to help tell it!” Craig Leavitt told the crowd “I have joined you on the bridge today because I believe that empowering women is the KEY to rebuilding societies after conflict!”
Also sharing their commitment to the cause was Tim Gunn who said “I joined you on the bridge today because I believe that together we can change the world by helping one woman at a time!”
You can view images from the event here!
London:
Thank you to everyone who joined us on Millennium Bridge in London. Rock star Annie Lennox and Cherie Lunghi, actress and Strictly Come Dancing Star, led the march along the Embankment, joined by a thousand supporters and a very vocal group of 7-8 year olds from a local primary school. Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and crusader for women’s rights in the UK and worldwide, joined us as we marched across the bridge.
The day was amazing – check out this film to see what happened.
Our Supporters Rocked!
In a passionate speech, Sarah Brown said: “No one should underestimate how much women are prepared to work together to achieve equal rights and a better safer life for women around the world and their families. The call from women on 100 bridges today is a call for a change we know we make happen for women everywhere.”
Annie Lennox, a long-time human rights campaigner, called for women and men to work together to improve the situation of women all around the world. She said: “This is an amazing event on an amazing day for women throughout the world. Today we come together as one and with one voice. It’s vital we speak out for women everywhere about the issues that affect them. We have to connect, connect, connect – because together we make a difference.”
A Call For Peace
At 12 noon 100 white dove balloons were
released to
call for peace and an end to conflict throughout the world. After the midday balloon release all supporters moved to the Southbank Women’s Festival, to explore the work of organisations supporting women’s rights and to hear high profile event speakers.
Teresa Samuel Ibrahim, who was born in South Sudan and spent years in camps for internally displaced people, said: “When we think of war we too often think of bombs, fighting, bullets – of the frontline where men are fighting and lives are lost and destroyed. We rarely think of what is happening on the back lines of war, where women are in charge of keeping life going. Today women in countries affected by war are speaking out and they are saying No! to war and Yes! to peace. Come and Join us, join women all over the world, and speak out today.”
Actress Cherie Lunghi added: “When women unite together they are no longer victims, they become a powerful force and pathway to peace. No woman is an island – as long as she has a bridge!”
Kate Nustedt, Executive Director of Women for Women International in the UK, said: “We celebrate all that’s been achieved by so many brave and inspirational women over the last hundred years, but we’re speaking out to say that there’s so much more to do. We’re calling for peace, and peace for a woman in a war-torn country like the Congo means being able to leave the house without fear of rape and being able to earn a living to support her family. Women in the UK can make a difference to the lives of other women by speaking out too - one woman can change anything, but many women together can change everything”