WILPF International President join with Global Women Activists, Speak Out Against War, Imperialism

Condemnation of the United States' war in Iraq was rife at the 14th Congress of the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) which concludes this Friday in Caracas. Over 1,000 delegates representing 165 organisations in 80 countries participated. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37346

Statement

"...
We are will be women in struggle to transform the world and to
achieve continuation and sustainable well being with social,
political, economic and gender justice, including the crucial
struggle for the rights of working women.

We are women of all ages, creeds, faiths, identities, cultures; we
are confident of our strength and commitment to the life, responsive
to the sufferings of our peoples, we open our hearts, our minds to
the millions of human beings who need, want and are working to bring
down the unjust economic social and patriarchal order that rules the
world today imposed by Neo-liberal globalization.

Because we want a peaceful world, we denounce the imperialist
military escalation across the planet in particular the war of
aggression sustained by the US government and its allies against
Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine. We repudiate Plan Colombia,
whose bloody tentacles extend to Ecuador and Venezuela; the attempt
to appropriate the Guarani aquifer in the Triple Frontier, their aim
of militarization establishing new military bases in this Zone under
the pretext of terrorism.

Peace for us is not merely the absence of war or armed conflict, it
is not the peace of cemeteries nor the peace of the subjugation of
our peoples. The peace we seek is achieved through bread, work,
health, education, free public social security, housing, and respect
for difference, national sovereignty, economic and political
independence, the integration of our nations. For us we will not
have peace so long as there exist the exploited, the hungry, the
excluded, and the marginalized. For this reason it is necessary to
change the capitalist system. It is also necessary to change the
patriarchal system in order to eliminate the imbalance of power
between men and women.

We want a world of equality between men and women where equal
opportunities are real and effective. We condemn the undeclared war
that transnational corporations have imposed with their neoliberal
policies giving way to world hunger, poor nutrition, misery,
illiteracy, inequality, which particularly and powerfully affect
women. ...."

To see the vastness and significance of Guarani Aquifer referred to
above and a brief summary of the link between water and military
bases in Paraguary and the region go to:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaraní_Aquifer>

Best regards,
Regina Birchem

WILPF works on issues of peace, human rights and disarmament at the local, national and international levels, participating in the ongoing international debates on peace and security issues, conflict prevention and resolution, on the elimination of all forms of discrimination, and the promotion and protection of human rights. It contributes to analysis of these issues, and through its many activities, educates, informs and mobilizes women for action everywhere.

For more information, please see our websites:
http://www.wilpf.int.ch
http://www.peacewomen.org
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org