Local MP Stands united with thousands on bridges across the world to mark International Women’s Day.

Phil Willis, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, today joined thousands of women gathering on bridges across the world to mark International Women’s Day. Phil Willis met with the Prime Minister’s wife, Sarah Brown, and music legend Annie Lennox on Millennium Bridge to mark the worldwide celebration by releasing 100 white dove balloons at 12 noon.

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future, and Join me on the Bridge has been organised by Women for Women International to honour the resilience of female survivors of war around the world.

Phil Willis commented: “Today’s event was a fantastic opportunity to mark the achievements of women worldwide. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, war has been raging for decades, with death tolls already surpassing five million citizens. Women across the world are calling for peace, and I for one will put my name to that. With the General Election looming, now is the perfect time to be focussing on the achievements of women past, present and future. Let’s hope that there are more female MPs than ever in the next Parliament.”

Kate Nustedt, Executive Director, Women for Women International, said: “We’re calling for peace, and peace for a woman in a war-torn country like the Congo means being able to leave the house without fear of rape and being able to earn a living to support her family. Women in the UK can make a difference to the lives of other women by speaking out too, by joining us on a bridge and uniting for peace.”

With the tenth anniversary of the UN Millennium Development Goals in 2010, we are given pause to reflect on the tremendous work left to be done in order to eradicate poverty and achieve equality for all the world’s citizens. 70% of the world’s poor are women and 75% of the civilians killed in war are women and children.

At the same time as the bridge event in London, thousands of women stood together on a bridge between Congo and neighbouring Rwanda to demand peace and development. Supporting them in their call for the war’s end were thousands of women from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, as well as in the United States and the United Kingdom, to say no to war and yes to peace and hope. Other UK Bridge events include Brighton, Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh and Newcastle.

Ends

Note to editors:

Women today walked from Victoria Embankment Gardens to the Millennium Bridge to mark International Women’s Day. There was a women’s festival with stalls, music and speeches along the embankment, followed by a balloon launch and photos with Sarah Brown and Annie Lennox on the bridge itself.
Join me on the Bridge events have taken place across the world, in countries including Australia, Bahamas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, India, Kosovo, Mexico, Nigeria, Scotland and the USA.
More information on International Women’s Day can be found here: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/ and more information about Join me on the Bridge here: http://www.womenforwomen.org/bridge/index.php

Phil Willis MP - Press Release

Contact: Helen Undy – 020 7219 2361

Date: 3 march 2010

Embargo: immediate