By TaRessa Stovall

Each step I took across the Brooklyn Bridge on a sunny Monday, March 8, brought me closer to survivors whose strength and resilience are as miraculous as they are uplifting. With hundreds of women and men of all colors and ages, we crossed this landmark in unison to pay tribute to women who have survived every atrocity of war and whose lives and stories invite each of us to stand and walk and work for peace.

From New York to the Congo; from London to Rwanda; from Kosovo to Nigeria; from Bosnia and Herzegovina to India; from Canada to Mexico; from Sydney to Denver; and from the Sudan to Washington, DC, thousands of people crossed bridges to commemorate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day at solidarity events around the world.

The events brought the plight and the resilience of women war survivors into focus through Women to Women International, a movement founded by Zainab Salbi, to help women survivors of war rebuild their lives.

“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,” Salbi explained on the Women to Women web site. “Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women and 75 percent of the civilians killed in war and women and children.

Verna Eggleston, Naomi Campbell, Zainab Salbi, and Mary Robinson walk towards City Hall Park on March 8, where hundreds of supporters were waiting to celebrate International Women’s Day.

“To honor this day, on March 8, our Women for Women International offices around the world hold events … This year—maybe more than ever—the women we serve are in dire circumstances,” Salbi stated. “Join me on the Bridge, which will unite women all over the world in a global women’s movement showing that women can build the bridges of peace and development for the future.”

On the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge, we gathered in City Hall Park to hear Salbi and others share the mission that propels and unites them. After singing a few bars of John Lennon’s classic, “Give Peace a Chance,” Salbi described the need to keep these women’s stories in the spotlight. “We are joining with women and men in 103 cities who are gathering worldwide to echo the voices of women in war zone who are demanding peace,” said Salbi, who was nominated as a 21stst Century Heroine by President Bill Clinton in 2009.

With celebrities Naomi Campbell, supermodel, and Tim Gunn, fashion expert and star of the television hit, Project Runway, behind her, Salbi introduced Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, as her inspiration and hero. “I have joined you today because we have more work to do and a bridge symbolizes coming together of women, and men, here in Brooklyn, New York,” Robinson said.

Citing the centennial anniversary of International Women’s Day, and Beijing+15, the Eighth African Regional Conference on Women held in The Gambia in November, 2009, to provide a global evaluation of issues facing women, Robinson said “There are many places in the world where women do not feel protected.”

She emphasized that “between now and October, we’re going to push the high level steering committee under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325”, passed in 2000 as the first resolution to address the impact of war on women, and women’s contributions to resolving conflict and sustaining peace.

According to WomenforWomen.org, “In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, site of over 5 million deaths and hundreds of thousands of rapes in a conflict spanning more than a decade, women are imagining peace. They say peace means being able to live and work freely. They see peace as walking to the fields without fear of rape; they envision a more prosperous future, harvesting from the fields the fruits of their own labor. Yet war wages on.”

In City Hall Park, there was a feeling of connectedness with those who convened around the globe. The site reported that, “Nearly 9,000 women gathered … all together we celebrated at over 100 different events around the world.” Their descriptions of the day included:

• “In New York City, hundreds of women and men celebrated … after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge for a celebration featuring … Zainab Salbi, Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, supermodel Naomi Campbell and television fashion expert Tim Gunn from Project Runway.
• In the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, women gathered to build the bridges of peace. The celebration included several government officials.
• In Kosovo, 5000 women attended the celebration on the Bridge in the Dragodan in Prishtina. The country’s President welcomed women.
• In London, hundreds of supporters met on the Millennium Bridge. Supporters included award-winning singer-songwriter Annie Lennox and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom’s wife Sarah Brown.
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina, over 1,000 women attended a celebration on Ars Aevi Bridge in Sarajevo. The country’s Presidents welcomed the women to the celebration.
• In Nigeria, hundreds of women from seven communities gathered at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium and walked to Okpara Square in Enugu. They made banners and even had a uniform to show their solidarity.
• In Sudan, hundreds of people from all districts came to Barnam Bridge in Rumbek.”

The celebrities made it clear they were there to honor the women being celebrated, not because of stellar professional achievements, winning competitions or receiving big awards, but because they are survivors determined to thrive. It was the gathering of ordinary people, many of whom took time from work and school to attend the events, which made such a memorable statement. It’s easy to sign a petition, in hard copy or online; it’s simple to make a donation or forward an e-mail or espouse a cause via social networking. But the energy of strangers drawn together for a purpose beyond self sends a message beyond the power of media or technology.

With the need to address and rectify the violence and poverty growing more urgent, “There are many places where we do not feel protected,” Robinson told the New York crowd. “We feel a real need for the solidarity of the bridge.”

TaRessa Stovall is Managing Editor of TheDefendersOnline.