First thoughts on WILPF Congress in Bolivia

Posted by Carol Urner, WILPF DISARM Committee Chair 

I expect soon to see many entries on the WILPF Blog from those who were privileged to attend the WILPF Triennial Congress in Bolivia last week. I loved the enthusiastic first contribution from C.J. which caught much of the positive thrust of the Congress. There was pain as well, but pain is often required in the process of growth and all of us have much growing to do if we are to reach our goal of a warless world with human rights, human security and economic justice for all. As Susi Snyder, our WILPF Secretary General, often says: Now we are small but powerful, let us become huge and unstoppable! But we must become giants in spirit, moral stature, compassion and knowledge, as well as numbers, if we are to succeed in the healing of our wounded world.

All five us on the U.S. delegates' team worked mighty hard with little time for sleep or relaxation. Both Darien De Lu and C.J. Minster are now chairs or co-chairs of international committees and Darien also spent many hours working on election procedures for the difficult process of choosing our new officers. Mary Day Kent spent much of her time translating from English to Spanish and vice versa, as well as contributing to the excellent No Foreign Bases and Columbia delegation panels and workshops. Claire Gosselin and the other four Boston Branch members facilitated the plenary discussions on plans for our 100th anniversary celebration, and Claire also contributed much as a "positive peacemaker" when some of our WILPF sisters failed to be civil with one another.

Our non-delegates were also active participants who made a difference, and I hope we all return to the "belly of the beast" energized to accomplish the gigantic tasks required of us.

I also want to report that I personally am very pleased with the three year calendar and program we developed on disarmament and demilitarization at the WILPF Congress in Bolivia. Four of us were there from the DISARM leadership team (Yoshiko Ikuta, Jean Verthein, Claire Gosselin and myself) and all of us had some input in the process. We hope Branches around the country can each embrace some portion of the program during the next three years as we work with our sisters around the world to rid the world of war, and to build the institutions of peace. I plan to write more about the disarmament program and calendar in another entry.

Indeed, I am pleased with the entire program framework, which includes the Environment and Economic Justice as well as Peace and Security (demilitarization, decolonization, human rights, governance, gender issues and UNSCR 1325). There are also important program subcommittees including those on Racial Justice and the Middle East. I hope that U.S. Issue committees will have representation on the relevant international Working Groups and program subcommittees. I also hope those members now engaged in strategic planning for our own next three year U.S. Section program cycle will work within this framework, and that we can find ways to cooperate more closely with our WILPF sisters from the "South" as well as in Europe, Australia and Japan.

-- in peace, Carol Urner