International Women`s Day forum to count costs of FIFA 2010 Games

5 March 2010

The World Class Cities For ALL (WCCA) Campaign and partner organisations in Durban are holding a workshop to celebrate International Women`s Day on 8th March 2010 at the Cane Growers Hall, ML Sultan Technikon campus of Durban University of Technology, Greyville.

“Women have had to fight hard for equality on the `playing field` of the economy and in the nation as breadwinners and as mothers. The workshop will seek answers to questions on the exclusion of women from city plans that affect them, on the threat of evictions and also of gender violence in the run up to, during and after the World Cup,” Gaby Bikombo, spokesperson for the WCCA Campaign said today.

A Xenophobia-free World cup

Bikombo continued, “The rights of the urban poor, including migrant and informal workers from the SADC and within the country itself, particularly women, must be respected as we approach the World Cup.”

The WCCA Campaign workshop will highlight the specific vulnerabilities of women within the context of the preparations for the 2010 World Cup, particularly the homeless, women street and market traders, and those who are vulnerable to trafficking, such as sex workers and street children. Deputy Mayor Logi Naidoo and City officials and Councillors have been asked to attend the workshop to answer questions on the expectations of women on the 2010 World Cup in Durban and its legacy for the informal economy.

The workshop will draft a Declaration of the concerns raised by the testimonies given by speakers which will be to be sent to the FIFA World Cup Host Cities Forum.

WCCA Campaign partners organising the International women`s Day workshop include, South African Municipal Workers` Union (SAMWU), South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO), Community Based Organisations` Coalition (COMBOCO), Informal Settlement Network, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA), Refugees Social Services (RSS), South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO), Masibambisane Traders` Organisation (MATO), Thathanankuzuka Community Projects, ACHIB and Polyvalent B.C.

For more information contact:

Gaby Bikombo, WCCA Campaign, StreetNet International
Telephone 031 3074038 Cell 0732510686