Join Me on the Bridge
March 8th 2013
Team Contact: Therese Hartwell, Executive Committee member
Where do you plan to be on March 8, 2013? Why not participate in the first event in FAWCO history to coordinate a common activity between FAWCO members attending the annual conference and other club members not in attendance? On March 8, women (and men) around the world, including FAWCO attendees at the conference in Bern, will participate in Women for Women International's third Join Me on the Bridge campaign. The mission of Women for Women is to support women survivors of war around the world. The organization was formed in 1993 by Zainab Salbi, an Iraqi/American woman, in response to the rape camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nineteen years later, the organization works in eight war-torn countries to help women and girls rebuild their lives, their families, and their communities. By providing financial and emotional support, as well as offering a year-long life skills training program, Women for Women empowers women to become confident, independent, and productive members of their communities.
Women for Women's Join Me on the Bridge campaign started in 2010 when women from Rawanda and The Democratic Republic of the Congo joined together on the bridge connecting their two countries who were on opposing sides of war, showing that they could build the bridges of peace and hope for the future. This action sparked a massive global movement, and in 2011 and 2012 they were joined by thousands of people on hundreds of bridges worldwide. In 2012, Bridge events occcurred on all seven continents and in 59 different countries around the world. The purpose of the campaign is to stand with women affected by war to give them strength and to make a statement about global peace. The FAWCO Board plans for conference attendees to participate in Join Me on the Bridge at a bridge in Bern to celebrate International Women's Day and to stand in solidarity with women around the world in a plea for peace. The Ending Violence Against Women and Children Team encourages your club to share this experience with conference attendees and plan an event in your city. An event can include anything from holding a banner on a bridge with a few other people, to planning a more organized event with outreach to the public, or even creating a “virtual bridge” by having a commemorative coffee or other appropriate activity. Details on how to plan an event are available at http://joinmeonthebridge.org/page/how-to-organise-1. EVAWAC Executive Committee member, Therese Hartwell, will coordinate FAWCO's Join Me at the Bridge effort. Contact her at with any questions or ideas.
While women are increasingly the victims of violence during war, women are also natural peace builders and with equality at the peace negotiation tables and in governing bodies of our countries we can build a more peaceful world. It is time for women to stand up and demand that our leaders consider non-violent ways of resolving conflicts. Now is the time for women around the world to unite in building bridges, joining on bridges and celebrating what is possible on bridges. Stronger women are building the bridges of peace for our future and our children's future.
To learn more about the work of Women for Women International, visit their website at http://www.womenforwomen.org/ and view the following clip (narrated by Meryl Streep) which summarizes the work of WfWI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikH7pKFmkyE .