Mr. Speaker, March 8 is International Women's Day. This year's theme, “Working in Solidarity: Women, Human Rights and Peace”, recognizes the crucial role played by women in seeking social justice on the local, regional, national and international scenes.
It reinforces the need to work in solidarity to address the abuse of women's human rights and to replace the global culture of violence with a culture of peace.
The situation of Afghan women now in the news since the tragic events of September 11 is unfortunately just one example of the sad reality of the millions of women and girls around the world who live daily with the threat of war, terrorism or violation of their human rights.
On this International Women's Day, I urge Canadians and the other peoples of the world to take the time to reflect on the difficulties encountered by many women and to look for ways of improving their quality of life.
Together, we can build a world of peace.