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NOW

NOW President Patricia Ireland Joins the March of the Americas

October 27, 1999


"Around the world and around the corner, the majority of people who live in poverty are women and their children," said the National Organization for Women's (NOW) President Patricia Ireland.  "Feminists here in the United States and abroad are determined to take bold steps to eradicate the poverty and violence that plagues women."

Ireland and NOW Vice President-Membership Karen Johnson will take to the streets to protest poverty and homelessness during the March of the Americas.  The four hundred mile march, organized by the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, kicked-off on October 1 in Washington, D.C. and will end with a rally at the United Nations in New York City on November 1.  Ireland and Johnson are joining the marchers in the final, critical stretch before they reach New York.

WHO:        Patricia Ireland & Karen Johnson, NOW
                   Cherie Honkala, Kensington welfare Rights Union

WHEN:      12 NOON
                   October 28, 1999

WHERE:    Military Park in Newark, NJ
                    (Located at Rector & Center Streets)

WHAT:      Media Availability

"It is long past time to end the feminization of poverty.  Impoverished women need food and shelter, not the cynical rhetoric of the right-wing" Ireland said.  "NOW is launching a year-long campaign to stop the injustice of poverty and violence against women, at home and abroad."

NOW's participation in the March of the Americas will kick-off the organizing efforts for the World March of Women 2000 -- a series of 130 worldwide protests against poverty and violence.  NOW will organize the U.S. event, a march in Washington, D.C. in October, 2000.

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