Women's Days

Yesterday, on International Women’s Day, a new Progressive Women’s Movement Steering Committee was launched in Sandton by “ministers, women in business, professional women, Faith Based Organisations and general civil orientated women's organisations”. The linked announcement appeared the day before on the ANC Women’s League site. We still await the press release from the Steering Committee launch, its composition, and the position paper that was supposed to be adopted. The actual PWM is proposed to be launched in five months’ time in August, presumably so as to coincide with South African Women’s Day. It will be instructive to find out why one mass movement (the ANC WL) feels that it is desirable to launch another one. Meanwhile the ICFTU announced from Brussels that their “Unions for Women, Women for Unions” campaign is to go into a second phase after a successful beginning. See linked. And the Global Campaign for Education, based in Johannesburg, has raised a particular campaign for parity in girls' and boys' enrolments to school. See linked Press Release. The rape trial of ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma has proceeded through the third day of evidence from the complainant. Good reports of the proceedings can be found on the Friends of Jacob Zuma web site. Look under “Latest News”. Cde Zuma’s supporters are very optimistic. Meanwhile the mainstream media are reporting the behaviour of the crowds outside the court. Links: ANC Womens League on Progressive Womens Movement (311 words) ICFTU, Unions for Women, Women for Unions phase 2 (599 words) Global Campaign for Education, millions of girls still out of school (604 words)