Action: International Women's Day (and Beyond...)

The day is almost over, but it's never too late...

March 8 is International Women's Day. The Canadian Make Poverty History campaign is joining with our international partner groups in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty in a day of action to demand gender equality to end poverty.

World wide, of the 1 billion people who live on less than $1 a day, 70 per cent are women. Women make up 65 percent of the world's illiterate. Although women do two thirds of the work in the world, the rate of paid employment for women is two thirds that of men. A mother dies every minute during childbirth because she doesn't have access to proper health care and the majority of the 80 million children who are not in school are girls.

In Canada, a majority of the poor are women. Over 70% of those working for minimum wages are women. And inadequate social support for children, including lack of affordable childcare is one of the main reasons women are more likely to be poor.

Poverty cannot be eradicated if gender justice is not achieved.

Go to www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/action/ to join in the global day of action by sending a message to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling on him to:

• Support women's equality globally by committing to increase foreign aid to 0.7% by 2015.
  
  
• Raise the annual Child Tax Benefit to $5100 per child and restore agreements with provinces and territories for child care programs.
  
  
• Restore funding for Status of Women Canada and the Court Challenges Program which have made significant contributions to advancing gender equality in Canada.
  

Thank you for your support.