INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY BREAKFASTS

 You are warmly invited to celebrate this important day, 8 March 2008

Events marking International Women’s Day are being held throughout New Zealand, generously hosted by various NGO organizations as a very practical way of supporting the work of UNIFEM New Zealand.

Information (as at 31 January) of celebrations near you is on Page 2 of the latest UNIFEM NZ Newsletter – February 2008.  Other events are in the final stages of organisation, and there will be some taking place independently of UNIFEM NZ. 

or more information or if there is no event listed that you can attend, watch out for local advertising or contact Liz Brown, Breakfast Co-ordinator, ph: 04 977 8783 or e-mail: liz.brown@paradise.net.nz

We welcome you and your colleagues and value your support.  

What happens to the IWD money?
Since their establishment in NZ in 1993, IWD breakfasts are our key, annual fundraising activities, aiming to help women in UNIFEM-funded projects to make real progress towards Equality, Development and Peace.  Please note that all monies raised at IWD events are "tagged" and used exclusively overseas for UNIFEM NZ's gender equality projects which focus on the development needs of women in the Pacific Islands and qualify for a 4:1 matching grant from NZAID.

Donations received from IWD events throughout New Zealand enable UNIFEM NZ to continue financing the Marshall Islands’ foremost women’s NGO, WUTMI (Women United Together in the Marshall Islands), as they conclude the second phase of mentoring workshops in their innovative “Gender Equality in Decision Making and Leadership” project and move on to the very necessary follow-up processes of monitoring and evaluation.  This is taking place in communities, large and small, on all the widely scattered inhabited atolls and islands of the Marshall Islands.  Carefully designed and facilitated discussion forums on women’s rights and gender equality, civics and voter education in the lead up to the November 2007 elections were well attended by local men as well as women.  Further, the translation of the Marshall Islands Constitution into Marshallese language and its general distribution countrywide allowed access to it by all and this ‘first’ was much appreciated.  Mentors reported animated dialogue….

UNIFEM (NZ)’s current Pacific project in Micronesia has been an important pilot project.  It is definitely steadily increasing general awareness among men and women of the worth and potential of women as leaders from grass-roots to MPs.  It has given the Marshallese people a solid grounding for further progress as UNIFEM Pacific rolls out its new GEPG (Gender Equality Pacific Governance) Stronger Women Citizens and Leaders.

Themes for 2008:
UNIFEM’s global theme for IWD 2008 is ’Financing for Gender Equality’

UNIFEM NZ’s national theme is ‘Funding Women’s Development Makes a Difference’  This is definitely true for our NZ-funded work in the Marshall Islands.  It can also be looked at from personal, local, national or international points of view and historical or current perspectives. 

It is now 60 years on from the momentous signing of UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.  The United Nations 60^th Anniversary theme is: ‘Dignity and justice for all of us’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~