Dear readers of the newsletter of the German Consulate General,

Every year, the 8^th of March is International Women´s Day, celebrated since the early 20^th century. For more than 100 years, this day reminds us of the equal rights of women and men. To commemorate this day, the Consulate General will organize an event on gender-based violence with experts from Germany and Canada. You will find more information about it in the first article of this newsletter and I encourage you all to read it and to sign up for this event. We all complain about the violation of human rights everywhere in the world but we don´t have to go far to see this violation happening literally at our doorsteps. It is not the courageous battle of women´s rights activists in Afghanistan, Iran or some countries in Africa. We are all asked to stand up to fight for and defend women´s rights every day, everywhere. A society in which not all individuals share and enjoy the same rights, liberties and obligations, is un unjust society and this injustice is mainly borne by the weakest. In Germany, nearly every day a woman is killed by her partner or a close relative. These numbers are unacceptable, not only in a society which keeps the rule of law as high as in Germany; it is unacceptable in every society. So the 8^th of March is only a little reminder for all of us to be vigilant, to combat gender-based violence and to make our societies safe for all its members.

My colleagues and I wish you a wonderful spring

Marc Eichhorn
Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Vancouver