Worldwide: 4th global women's strike - 8 March 2003

It's not as though we've been living in peace.  For millions of us, economic plunder has been enforced by military genocide from Congo to Kashmir, Palestine to Colombia, Chechnya to Sudan, Yugoslavia to Afghanistan.  Behind every headline are women fighting for the life of communities traumatised by terror and destruction. As deadly as weapons is the starvation millions of us face.  On top of food scarcity imposed by killing economic priorities, are floods and drought imposed by climate change.  Women work endlessly trying to feed families enough to survive for another day.  For carers, organising for survival is inseparable from organising for change.  But our survival is not an economic priority, so our survival work is invisible and uncounted.

Every 8th March, Strike actions in over 70 countries on every continent broadcast our demands, which are rooted in our international experience.  The more we as women come together to break the divisions of race, ethnicity, nation, religion, language - which divide us to deprive us - the more grassroots women's needs are visible and our demands heard against the wars and the trade in arms that soak up our resources.