Hiroshima & Nagasaki Remembrance Statement

WILPF Advocacy Documents

Date/month:

8 August 2006

Document type:

Position

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) remembers the destruction and devastation caused by the US Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 61 years ago. WILPF recognizes and shares the work of the Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) since 1945 to eliminate nuclear weapons from the planet, and to prevent their ever being used again.

Currently there are still thousands of nuclear weapons in existence, many of them on hair-trigger alert, putting the entire global population at risk. The only option is to fully implement the first UN General Assembly resolution (1946) and totally and universally disarm all nuclear weapons.

Plans in some nuclear weapon states—including the US, the UK, France and Russia—to modernize their nuclear weapons arsenals or delivery systems continue to violate Article VI of the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty wherein “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament…“ WILPF calls on these governments to fully implement their treaty commitments and to cease modernizing their arsenals as a step toward the good faith pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the ultimate goal of a nuclear weapon free world.

Nuclear sharing under bilateral and plurilateral agreements—including the NATO nuclear sharing agreement—is a violation of the NPT. We call on all non nuclear weapon states who currently host nuclear weapons on their soil or shores to demand the immediate removal of these ecocidal, suicidal, genocidal weapons from their territories. We also call on all non nuclear weapon states to take urgent action to prevent the stationing of nuclear weapons on any foreign soil as called for in“Weapons of Terror” the report of the independent Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction (p 95-98). WILPF supports the work of European Parliament members who are calling for the removal of nuclear weapons from European non nuclear NATO states.

Japan, the country that survived the only war-time use of nuclear weapons, continues to sit beneath US nuclear weapons protection. The US nuclear umbrella over Japan removes the moral authority the Japanese government has in calling for nuclear abolition. In addition, the current move by conservative forces in Japan to remove the peace article (Article 9) from the constitution is a step in the wrong direction. WILPF supports peace and justice advocates in Japan and around the world who are working to protect Article 9 in the Japanese constitution and calls on other governments of the world to use Article 9 as a model for their own national legislation.

WILPF recognizes that certain war profiteers—particularly Bechtel, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon—all benefit financially from the ongoing development and maintenance of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. WILPF calls on these corporations to take responsibility for designing verifiable plans to eliminate these weapons and their delivery systems.

All states bear a responsibility to disarm their nuclear weapons, whether they are recognized nuclear weapons states under the NPT or not. WILPF calls on China, France, the Russian Federation, UK, US, India, Pakistan, and Israel to verifiably disarm their nuclear weapons arsenals and immediately commence negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons completely.

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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.

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

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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.

WILPF Advocacy Documents