International Women's Day in Asia 1998
on March 8. As a joint effort of the CWWD, All Nepal Women's Association and Women Department of Student and Youth, the rally passed through the main part of the capital city, sending to the sky loud cries for 'No Discrimination in Job Opportunity and Pay', 'Abolish Child Labour and Kamaiya System' and 'Full Day Holiday', etc.

Solidarity went beyond Kathmandu Valley. In Pokhara, CWWD and ANWA organised one-day free medical check up service in which 600 people from poor families took part and shared their views of IWD. In Sunsari, eastern Nepal, about 200 women joined a program which talked about problems confronting women workers and ways to overcome them.

South Korea

For the first time in the history of Korean labour movement, celebration of IWD was co-organised by Korean Women
Workers' Association United (KWWAU) together with Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

About 1,000 women and men attended the ceremony which carried the theme of 'Job Security for Women Workers and toward Social Equality'. A slide show titled 'Blossoming Flower: Your Name is Women Workers' was shown, which presented the struggle of Korean women workers from the seventies. This was followed by 'Our Hope and Our Choice', a sing-a-long performance on women workers' situation, especially that of dismissal and violence at workplace.

The singing and drama soon moved people to tears and laughter as it was not just a show: they were watching their own story. Common experience to share; common struggle to stage.

[KWWA has a video tape recording of the ceremony. Let us know if you want to have a copy –– Ed.]

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Fist and spirit high in celebration of IWD in South Korea


Vol. 17 No. 2 April 1998