WILPF Advocacy Documents

Iraq

Iraq

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights | Human Rights
Date/month:
5 July 1992
Document type:
Resolution
Body submitted to:

The 25th Triennial Congress of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 1-6 July 1992 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia:

Continued non-military sanctions are resulting in shortages of food and medicines and causing widespread disease and malnutrition in Iraq; sewage systems, power plants and other facilities destroyed in the war cannot be replaced because of lack of spare parts.

Economic sanctions are still enforced by the UN, preventing Iraqis from importing the food and medicine they need to live, and the spare parts and machinery needed to adequately repair installations necessary to the survival of the population. Prices of basic necessities, such as infant formula and cooking oil have risen far beyond the means of most Iraqis. Governments’ rations cover only a small percentage of a family’s needs and average earnings have fallen to less than 7% of pre-crisis levels. Almost 1 million Iraqi children are suffering from malnutrition. The infant mortality rate has risen by about 300%. Iraqi children continue to die at the rate of 500-1000 daily.

The incidence of typhoid, hepatitis, meningitis, and gastroenteritis has become epidemic. Hospitals lack medicine, vaccines, and anaesthesia, and cannot treat curable diseases. International relief workers and medical experts have called Iraq a “public health catastrophe”, a country “on the verge of famine”.

The Iraqis have agreed to several formulas for selling oil, with UN monitoring. All that which has been agreeable to the Iraqis has been vetoed by the US, UK, or France. The option offered to Iraq, comparable to the only option offered for withdrawal from Kuwait before the war is one without dignity and fails to assure the level of resources needed.

US citizens cannot determine the policy of the Iraqi government, but they can influence the policies of their own government, and it is the US government that is the force behind the maintaining of UN sanctions against Iraq.

WILPF urges that:

A. The people of Iraq not be held hostage for the political purposes of the US, the UK, or any other governments.

B. Concerned individuals and organizations contact their parliaments, congresspeople, heads of state and the UN Secretary-General urging them to support the lifting of humanitarian sanctions against Iraq so that it may begin to restore its hospitals, homes, schools and its civilian infrastructure and meet its humanitarian needs.

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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.

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