March 8, 2006

Darfur-Canadian Women Association salutes all Canadian women and congratulates those among them who have been honored on the International Women’s Day for the contributions they have made in making the world more peaceful and enjoyable for all. As Canadian women from Darfur origin we would like to remind all our Canadian female compatriots that their contribution is badly needed to rescue their sisters of humanity in the remote corners of the Third World such as Darfur (Sudan) where the regime has adopted women’s rape as part of its policy of genocide against the indigenous population.

Our dear compatriots, at the time when we are celebrating and being honored on this day, indigenous women of Darfur are in a very volatile situation where they are worried about their lives and dignity. The Sudanese regime has destroyed their homes and property, killed their husbands and other male relatives and raped thousands of them before they ended up with their traumatized children in “concentration camps” guarded by soldiers some of whom are the rapists. The women who live in these camps in Darfur risk their life and dignity when they try to practice any activity that will help them provide their families with basic needs. They cannot even look for the firewood led alone talking about farming. They are either raped or seriously beaten as symbol of humiliation when they leave the camps to fetch firewood.

Dear compatriots, most of the women who live in such horrible conditions in Darfur have never heard of this day (the International Women’s day), which symbolizes women worldwide as the half of the human society. We hope that during next year’s celebrations Canadian women who provide help to displaced women in areas like Darfur will be honored because their work in displaced camps in the remote corners of the world will help women of these areas enjoy this day too.