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In anticipation of next year's national congress (in Des Moines!), WILPF has undertaken a strategic planning process. We need your help to make this process a success.

Please click on the link below to complete a survey designed to solicit feedback from our members, past members, potential new members, and allies in the community. But don't open it until you have time to complete it. This survey will take about 20 minutes to complete, and once begun cannot be re-entered by the same user.

While each individual may only complete the survey once, please feel free to forward this link to other members who may not be on WILPF US's e-mail distribution lists.

Those of you who have been with WILPF for a while may recall that the last time WILPF engaged in strategic planning was during the 1996-99 board term. This process culminated in a set of by-law changes reconfiguring the board and the campaign structure of our program.

This survey is just one of several means we are using to solicit ideas and insights from our members and allies.

Thank you in advance for your participation in this important process

from http://www.peacewomen.org

Focus on the DRC

The Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, 31 October 2000. CLICK HERE for the full text of the resolution.

To receive the 1325 PeaceWomen E-Newsletter, send an email to subscribe@peacewomen.org with "subscribe" as the subject heading.

For past issues of the newsletter, CLICK HERE.

For PDF version of this newsletter, CLICK HERE

THIS ISSUE OF 1325 PEACEWOMEN E-NEWS FEATURES:

1. Editorial: Multiple Actors Engaging for Change in the DRC
2. Women, Peace and Security News
3. Feature Analysis: Voices of Women from the DRC
4. Feature Initiatives: V-Day Campaign to End Sexual Violence in the DRC
5. Security Council Monitor: 1325 in the Work of the Security Council: Resolutions and Reporting on the DRC
6. Feature Resources: Working with Men: Ending Violence in Eastern Congo & Implementing 1325
7. Translation Update: Krio translation now available, translations in Congolese languages
8. Women, Peace and Security Calendar

The PeaceWomen Project is a project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Please visit us at http://www.peacewomen.org

Dear Reaching Critical Will friends and advisors,

As RCW gears up for another busy September and October here at the UN in New York, we are asking you to support the work we do and the resources we provide for the global community of disarmament experts, analysts, and activists.

With your support, our work in the upcoming 2007 UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security will be even stronger. We will:

* Index every disarmament statement made at the UN General Assembly General Debate and post it so you can access it on line and know what your government is saying on a myriad of issues;
* Report on the disarmament-focused debates in our First Committee Monitor in topic based weekly summaries;
* Provide the only online access to all First Committee statements, resolutions and papers;
* Keep you updated on any disarmament action-items via our General E-news list;
* Coordinate a NGO Working Group for the duration of the First Committee to collectively strengthen our advocacy; and
* Facilitate access to rooms at the UN for NGO side events during the First Committee.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

By Cody Kraatz

'I shouldn't be a Raging Granny. I'm too calm. I'm not raging enough," says Shirley Lin Kinoshita, 65, who started the San Jose Raging Grannies chapter in 2005.

It's true--she doesn't look very angry. But she is. Get her talking about President Bush's aims to update the United States' nuclear arsenal, and she gets downright nettled.

"He would like to replace our whole nuclear arsenal with new nuclear weapons. But that's sending the wrong message to countries like Iran and North Korea,'' she says, pointing out that the United States has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world.

Since we are a university town we have worked to get some Indiana University students active in WILPF.  We have a small student membership and we have tried to support them in whatever efforts they are involved in, even when they are working with other organizations.  Recently one of our students, also working with Amnesty, brought an Iraq Vet to campus to talk about his change of position on the war.  We helped to provide funds to sponsor him.

Sadly, our Water chair, Joe Hailer, passed away earlier this month.  Joe was a geo-chemist and was looking into laws to protect our water source from being tapped by the city of Indianapolis (which they threatened to do.) I don't know how we will meet this need at this time.

"If we conserved our resources better, fighting over them would not then occur...so, protecting the global environment is directly related to securing peace...those of us who understand the complex concept of the environment have the burden to act. We must not tire, we must not give up, we must persist."

Wangari Maathai

Hello to WILPF Branch Contacts! April 2007

The materials in this mailing will be valuable to your work. The Save the Water Campaign has developed a pledge to Boycott Bottled Water and a petition to the United Nations to pass a binding convention on Water as a Human Right. Asking for a signature is a great way to engage passers-by in conversation and commitment, and helps to build your branch.

Save the Water is also campaigning to Stop Fast Track , the trade negotiation policy that allows trade deals like NAFTA and CAFTA to slide through the White House without public oversight. Fast Track is up for renewal on June 30^th, and the included postcard is the first of many tactics in this ongoing campaign. For more postcards, simply call the office.

photos and text by Mike Rhodes

from indybay.org

The California State University Fresno Feminist Activism class and P.O.W.E.R. presented the Runway Peace Project, an anti-militarism fashion show, in the Satellite Student Union at Fresno State (CSUF). The event was free and featured music, poetry, art, information tables, and more. The purpose of the Runway Peace Project is to deconstruct the militaristic doctrine that has infiltrated our culture and lead us into war, and to ultimately challenge its supposed normalcy by presenting thought provoking images, fashion and information. The presentation provided statistics and analysis with regard to war as well as opportunities to get involved with activism in our community. For more information contact: runwaypeaceproject [at] yahoo.com or
http://www.myspace.com/runwaypeaceproject