WARSAW, Poland (AFP) – Some 2,000 women rallied in Warsaw yesterday for equal rights and better work opportunities, three days ahead of International Women’s Day.

Shouting “We want work, not welfare”, participants in the event organised by left-wing feminist and lesbian organisations gathered in front of the Polish Parliament before marching through the capital into Warsaw’s historic quarter.

“No government in Poland since the fall of communism more than 15 years ago has been truly concerned about the problems facing women,” one feminist, Katarzyna Bratkowska, told AFP.

Some of the demonstrators also opposed a plan of Poland’s conservative-led government to create a national educational institute aimed at teaching young Poles “patriotism and Christian values”.

With the approach of International Women’s Day on Wednesday, Polish feminists also said they wanted “to draw attention to the rights of minorities – religious, sexual and other types” – in Poland, which is more than 90 per cent Catholic.