On this day, one year ago, more than 1,000 women activists from all corners of the world gathered in The Hague, the Netherlands, to celebrate 100 years of activism for peace. WILPF’s Centennial Conference marked the start of the #WomenStopWar Movement, WILPF’s contribution to reorganise and reenergise the social movement for peace and justice.
Commitment to Peace
The Conference was a decisive moment for reflecting upon the challenges of our time and looking at the root causes of conflict and gendered power relations that still shape our world. In full WILPF’s spirit, the Conference also represented the chance to discuss how to build new partnerships and strengthen our commitment to do away with patriarchy, capitalism, racism, and militarism.
One year ago we asked people to reimagine peace and support the global movement. Hundreds of participants wrote a private pledge on how they wanted to commit to peacemaking for the years to come.
Today, on our 101st birthday, we are sharing some of those pledges and looking forward to our collective action to liberate women’s power to stop war.
“I pledge to contribute my part of the joint efforts towards equality, sustainable peace and justice for all and towards systematic and transformative change for the sake of our planet, eco-systems and people.”
“I pledge to advocate for education of our exposure to violence in the media, in learning and transmitting the art of peaceful, respectful conflict negotiation and solution, from smaller to bigger conflicts, to encourage people especially young ones to live in peace as a goal in life.”
“I pledge to not be silent on all forms of abuse of power directed to women and girls and to help men understand that we are not born violent and that we can live peacefully in respect of human rights and uphold human dignity!”
“I pledge to work for a just, equal and war-free world where people can move across borders without impediments (no more deaths in the Mediterranean) and where ideologies such as racism and fascism will be history.”
Working towards peace
At WILPF, we are working relentlessly to amplified your voices and sustain the hopes and pursuit you expressed in your pledges.
During the past year we have started working on corporate accountability, linking militarisation, corporate power and women’s human rights. We have brought the voices of women in Nigeria, Libya, DRC, Syria, Colombia, and Ukraine to the UN human rights bodies, advocating for women’s participation and demanding corporate accountability.
2015 was also the year of the 15th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. In the midst of these commemorations, WILPF continued to advocate for strengthening the Women Peace and Security Agenda and moved quickly from words to action.
WILPF also saw progressive developments on several of its political objectives related to disarmament and arms control. Among the highlights, we saw a greater international commitment to end the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and we published an overview of the legal gaps associated with nuclear weapons.
We want to hear from you
We are still far from the goal, but if we all keep working on our pledges, then each day we will get one millimetre closer.
Thank you for your contributions to the movement the last year. Please share with us in the comment field, what you have been working on since we gathered in The Hague. Or share your pledge with the entire world! Either re-post your pledge from the Conference (if you were there) or pledge today and share your pledge on social media using the hashtag #WomenStopWar.
Share your experience from the past year with us in the comment field below.
