International Women’s Day Breakfast in Sydney

• Published on 24/03/2009
• Stop Violence Against Women Network

UNIFEM’s International Women’s Day Breakfast for 2009 was held on 6 March. Once again the breakfast brought together supporters from government, non-government, corporate and school groups to raise money for UNIFEM’s vital programs. UNIFEM works to promote women’s human rights, economic security and political participation in over 100 countries. The proceeds from the breakfast went towards UNIFEM Pacific’s ‘Market Project’ to improve conditions and participation for women in rural marketplaces in Fiji.

The keynote guest speaker this year was Fozilitun Nessa of Bangladesh. Ms Nessa is a survivor of an acid attack and now works with the Bangladeshi Acid Survivors Foundation promoting women’s rights and increasing awareness about the issue of acid violence. Other speakers included NSW Minister for Women, Verity Firth and NSW Shadow Minister for Women, Pru Goward, among others. Musician Ben Lee, also gave a surprise guest performance, and as the sole representative of the male sex drew some laughs singing about being a woman.

The NSW Amnesty SVAW Network was privileged to attend and hold a stall at the breakfast. Amnesty’s campaign for a National Plan of Action to Eliminate Violence Against Women received a great deal of support from other attendees of the breakfast.

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