Join Women on the Bridge - International Women's Day

Only a few days until International Women’s Day on Thursday 8^th March…  And how better to celebrate that bright day than by joining thousands of women standing for peace and equality on bridges all over the world?

Last year, I joined hundreds of women (and men and children) over the Millennium Bridge in London and loved it. We were all together, marching, chanting, waving banners, and it was heartwarming and fun. But the best part was knowing that all over the world, women and men were meeting on bridges just like us - some braving danger to do so, like women in Afghanistan and Iraq.  All of us across continents, standing for peace, standing  in solidarity with women survivors of war. 

The Join me on the Bridge campaign, organized by Women for Women International, is now in its third year. It started as a gathering of Rwandan and Congolese women on the bridge connecting their two countries, but soon sparked a huge global movement. Join me on the Bridge is now the biggest women's rights campaign in the world! Last year, over 75,000 people joined together on 464 bridges in 70 countries. 

 "This is a simple action of solidarity, which gives us faith and hope...bridges blur borders, and without borders we are all one," says Vanessa Arelle, who last year managed to gather more than 30 women on the bridge in the notoriously dangerous Ciudad Juarez in North Mexico.

 To find a list of events near you, click here. You can also organize your own Join me on the Bridge event (there is help on the website). 

In London, the march starts at 10:30am on the south side of the Millennium Bridge with face painting and banner making, and will culminate at 12:30pm with speeches, stalls and entertainment at the Royal Festival Hall. For more information, click here. 

Join me there!

Building Bridges of Peace around the world

Millennium Bridge, London/Mark Allen

Earlier this month, I wrote a post on the Join me on the Bridge campaign organized by Women for Women International to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day.

On March 8^th, Women and men stood together on bridges around the world, celebrating the achievements of generations of women before us, while calling for peace and an end to violence and injustice against women in Afghanistan and other war-torn countries. 

Thousands stood in solidarity on 646 bridges in 70 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia- Pacific and the Americas. Fifty five events took place in the UK alone and some 2,000 women, men and children marched together on Millennium Bridge in London. 

It was a fantastic, uplifting and inspiring day. Here are a few pictures from around the world: 

Sydney/Susie Hogan

Bosnia/Amel Emric

Afghanistan/Hossein Fatemi

Nigeria/Andrew Esiebo

USA

Join Me on the Bridge – Celebrate International Women’s Day’s 100th anniversary

Actress Cherie Lunghi on London's Millennium bridge

Tuesday March the 8th is a BIG DAY! It is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. To celebrate this historic event, thousands of women, men and children will congregate on bridges all over the world to build bridges of peace and support women of Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, whether you are two or 2000 or more, you can join the campaign by standing on a bridge near you and holding banners calling for peace. People are planning bridges of peace on five continents, in 48 countries and in 9 different time zones with more than 270 events. View a map of all the events. 

In the UK alone, 33 events are planned, from the Eden Project in Cornwall to Edinburgh, backed by celebrities, including actresses Cherie Lunghi and Michelle Ryan and activist and singer Annie Lennox.

Annie Lennox

Here are a few examples of bridge events planned across the globe:

·      In Rwanda/DRC, women from both countries will meet at the Gisenyi-Goma border.  

·      In Bosnia, women will gather on the Ars Aevi Bridge in Sarajevo to let off balloons and hear speeches.

·      In New York, people will walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall Park in Manhattan where there will be a festival.

·      Berlin will host a ‘virtual bridge’ on the web comprised of ‘authors for peace’ from around the world.

·      In Sudan, a group of 50 women  will hold out their open palms – the ubiquitous sign of separation from the north – a feat which has now been achieved as a result of the recent referendum and in the aftermath of the bloody civil war that divided the country for more than 20 years.

·      In London, UK, Annie Lennox, Cherie Lunghi, Michelle Ryan and Sally Hawkins will lead a march from Borough Market over the Millennium Bridge along to Embankment and back across the river to the Royal Festival Hall.

The global campaign is organised by Women for Women International and is supported by the National Union of Students, Amnesty International, the Fawcett Society, Oxfam, Women’s Aid, Save the Children and other organizations.

 Women (and men and children)  will gather on bridges to show their support for women in war-torn areas – especially in Afghanistan – and call for women to have a greater say at the peace negotiating tables and for countries to honour the UN goals they have signed up to.

 

“One hundred years ago brave women stood up and changed the world for so many of us.  Today, there are equally brave women standing up for equality in Afghanistan,” says Kate Nustedt, Executive Director of Women for Women International.

"We are proud to stand alongside them on the 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day and call for them to have a seat at the peace negotiation table so that they can play a part in the rebuilding of their country. Without women there is no peace.” 

For more information, click here.