Calendar
mywilpf
Donate

Celebrating Feminists’ Voices, Inspiring Global Peace

Back to all news
News
#IWD

Reclaiming International Women’s Day 

This International Women’s Day, the human cost of militarism is impossible to ignore. Bombs fall on schools, women’s rights organisations are defunded, and multilateral institutions are weakened. Militarism, austerity, and global inequality are not separate crises — they are interconnected political choices. On this day, the Women’s international League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) calls for a bold, feminist response rooted in the anti-capitalist, anti-war tradition of IWD: demilitarise, move the money, and defend global cooperation as the foundation of feminist peace.

A protest sign reads, I AM NOT FREE WHILE ANY WOMAN IS UNFREE, written in large, bold, black letters. The background is blurred.
Image credit: shaunl from Getty Images Signature
  • 2 min
WILPF International Secretariat
8 March 2026

Honouring the Radical Roots of International Women’s Day  

International Women’s Day was never meant to be a symbolic celebration. It began as a socialist, anti-war mobilisation led by working women who recognised that militarism, economic exploitation, and political exclusion were deeply connected. Today, resisting economies of war and neoliberal “peace” is a feminist act. 

For over 110 years, WILPF has carried forward that legacy, challenging war economies, advancing care and justice, and defending global cooperation as essential to feminist peace. These struggles remain urgent: militarism continues to devastate women and communities, feminist organisations are underfunded, and multilateral institutions are weakened. True security cannot exist within militarised systems; it requires transforming them. Militarism, austerity, and the erosion of global cooperation are interconnected features of an economic model that prioritises profit and power over people and the planet. 

Militarised Security Is Fragile and False 

As the United States and Israel’s joint unlawful military campaign against Iran intensifies, the human cost is staggering. An airstrike on a girls’ school in Minab alone is reported to have killed more than 100 girls and teachers, a devastating example of who pays the price for militarised violence. Governments continue to raise military budgets while defunding multilateral institutions and feminist organisations. Bombs are funded, feminist organising is threatened, and global cooperation is weakened. These are not separate crises; they are connected political choices shaping life, survival, and dignity. This International Women’s Day, WILPF reminds everyone of the urgent need to challenge militarism, defend feminist organising, and strengthen global cooperation. 

In our latest statement calling for an immediate ceasefire and compliance with international law, WILPF emphasised that militarised retaliation is not inevitable and that military intervention does not deliver liberation for women, girls, or communities. Defunding multilateral institutions and feminist organisations undermines accountability and exposes civilians to violence. Security for all depends on dismantling militarised systems, investing in care and justice, and strengthening international institutions that uphold human rights and collective well-being. 

Public resources must shift from military spending to care systems, climate action, and feminist movements, ensuring communities’ needs, not profit and power, shape our shared priorities. This means sustaining grassroots women’s rights and peacebuilding organisations with long-term, flexible support and strengthening multilateral institutions that uphold international law, foster global cooperation, and centre feminist voices in decisions that affect us all. Moving the money is not simply a budgetary adjustment; it is a deliberate challenge to the economic and political systems that fuel war, inequality, and structural violence — laying the foundation for security that is collective, just, and feminist. 

Join Us and Turn Outrage into Organised Power 

WILPF calls on feminists, allies, and movements worldwide to mobilise in protests and solidarity actions, bring the call to demilitarise into multilateral spaces such as the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women happening next week, use our advocacy tools to strengthen your feminist peace work, and join and amplify the Move the Money campaign. 

Militarised “security” is failing women, girls, and communities. Military budgets rise, feminist organising is defunded, and multilateral institutions are under attack. This International Women’s Day, WILPF calls for collective action to demilitarise, move the money, and defend global cooperation.  

Share the post
WILPF International Secretariat

WILPF International Secretariat, with offices in Geneva and New York, liaises with the International Board and the National Sections and Groups for the implementation of WILPF International Programme, resolutions and policies as adopted by the International Congress. Under the direction of the Secretary-General, the Secretariat also provides support in areas of advocacy, communications, and financial operations.

Matt Mahmoudi

Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.

Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

Your donation isn’t just a financial transaction; it’s a step toward a more compassionate and equitable world. With your support, we’re poised to achieve lasting change that echoes through generations. Thank you!

Thank you!

Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

A woman in a blue, black, and white dress smiles radiantly in front of a leafy green background.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris facilisis luctus rhoncus. Praesent eget tellus sit amet enim consectetur condimentum et vel ante. Nulla facilisi. Suspendisse et nunc sem. Vivamus ullamcorper vestibulum neque, a interdum nisl accumsan ac. Cras ut condimentum turpis. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Curabitur efficitur gravida ipsum, quis ultricies erat iaculis pellentesque. Nulla congue iaculis feugiat. Suspendisse euismod congue ultricies. Sed blandit neque in libero ultricies aliquam. Donec euismod eget diam vitae vehicula. Fusce hendrerit purus leo. Aenean malesuada, ante eu aliquet mollis, diam erat suscipit eros, in.

Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.