Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, over 60 prominent women politicians from 35 countries across four continents, and many more women from 54 countries across the world, addressed and took part in a seven-hour-long online global conference on March 5.
Maryam Rajavi , the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), was the keynote speaker of the conference, titled ‘Women, Force for Change in Iran, Global Peace, and Stability’. “Millions of women and girls have risen up for freedom and rushed to the battlefield in droves; from ministers and parliamentarians to elderly mothers, have taken up arms. Hail to mothers who sent their children to others so that they could themselves join the resistance, and to smiling and spirited young girls who make Molotov cocktails,” she said.
Mrs. Rajavi added, “I am reminded of women and girls of the People’s Mojahedin in the massacre of our prisoners in 1988 on Khomeini’s fatwa. They walked to the gallows with clenched fists and while chanting defiantly. International Women’s Day is a day of pride and honor for Iranian women. Because throughout this year, as in the past four decades, they have stood against the monster of misogyny, coercion, plunder, and oppression.”
Concluding her address, she stated, “Throughout the past year, women were at the forefront everywhere in all protest movements, from the uprisings in Khuzestan, Isfahan, and Shahrekord to the protests of teachers, nurses, and the defrauded investors. This is the real image of Iranian women. Her cry is not out of despondency and despair. Rather, it is a battle cry to overturn the status quo of captivity, a cry to build a future that we can and must achieve.”
This conference was further energized by the speeches of two Ukrainian members of parliament, Ms. Kira Rudik, the leader of the political party Voice, and Ms. Lisa Yasko and a member of the Parliament’s , Foreign Affairs Committee, who joined the audience online from Kyiv..
In hermessage, Ms. Rudik thanked Mrs. Maryam Rajavi for dedicating the conference to the fighting women of Ukraine, saying, “I would like to thank Maryam Rajavi for making this special event dedicated to Ukrainian women who are fighting for their freedom. Thank you so much.”
Hello this is Kira Rudik .@kiraincongress again.
I would like to thank .@Maryam_Rajavi for making this special event dedicated to Ukrainian women who are fighting for their freedom.
Thank you so much ✌️#WomenForce4Change#IWD2022#WeStandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/nALw0tqV4d— Women's Committee NCRI (@womenncri) March 5, 2022
Other participants of the conference included 15 brave women who are members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK/PMOI) Resistance Units. During their speeches, they insisted on their commitment to fight the misogynist regime of Iran and overthrow it.
The former Danish Prime Minister, Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, expressed her support for the courageous of the Iranian women to fight the regime and said: “You are our inspiration. Your fight will not only change Iran but will inspire women around the world. Your country will begin a new future. You will inspire women all around the world. The female power is enormous. Misogynist leaders are afraid of female empowerment and female agency . Iranian women have chosen a different path. They have not submitted to the regime. They have turned into a force for change in Iran.”
Mrs. Urška Bačovnik Janša, the spouse of the Slovenian Prime Minister and an active advocate of human rights and equality, praised the courage of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and the Iranian women who have been confronting the Iranian regime for over four decades, saying, “It’s a great honor and pleasure to attend this conference with so many distinguished guests under the great leadership of Maryam Rajavi. As a Muslim woman, Maryam has had to overcome extraordinary political, social, cultural, and ideological challenges put in place by the ruling regime in Iran. I commend Maryam’s courage and commitment to empowering Iranian women.”
She further added, “Under Maryam’s leadership, women have risen to hold key positions in the Iranian Resistance movement. I admire the work of the NCRI Women’s Committee that I have been following closely for quite some time. Iranian women have been on the frontline of protests against Iran’s Islamic regime. They have shown enormous courage, intelligence, and strength.”
