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Colombia

Opposition to Plan Colombia and Plan Patriota

Arms Trade and Industry | Chemical Weapons | Disarmament | Economic, Social and Cultural Rights | Human Rights | Justice and Accountability | Militarisation | Racism | Sexual and Gender-Based Violence | Women and Girls’ Human Rights | Women’s Participation | Youth and Children
Date/month:
8 August 2004
Document type:
Resolution
Body submitted to:

The 28th Triennial Congress of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting 2–8 August 2004 in Gothenburg, Sweden

  1. WHEREAS Colombia has been involved in a bloody conflict for the last 40 years or more, caused by the highly unequal distribution of wealth, and an exclusionary elite; and
  2. WHEREAS women, together with children in Colombia have borne a great part of the burden of this conflict and many have suffered greatly; and
  3. WHEREAS grass-roots community organizations have raised their voices against the violence, which has been exacerbated by the militaristic approach of the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez and the United States Government, in a scheme known formerly as Plan Colombia and now as Plan Patriota; and
  4. WHEREAS these government policies seek to implement globalization in Colombia to the great prejudice of Colombia’s people and institutions; and
  5. WHEREAS the Colombia government has undertaken to negotiate for peace with the illegal paramilitary groups and their commanders, often linked to the Colombian armed forces, who are responsible for more murders of innocent men, women and children than any other armed group in Colombia; and
  6. WHEREAS the Colombia government has recklessly engaged in chemical spraying in the Amazon rainforest area, causing injury to peasants and indigenous peoples and destroying their food crops, while threatening irreversible damage to the Amazon rainforest, heritage of mankind:
  7. Now, therefore the 28th International Congress of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom resolves as follows:

—

  1. To declare support for the non-violent resistance to the Colombian government’s militaristic policies by grass-roots community organizations;
  2. To oppose Plan Colombia and Plan Patriota and their implementation by the Colombian government;
  3. To oppose amnesty for paramilitary forces without sanctions for their crimes and compensation for their victims;
  4. To oppose fumigation of the Amazon rainforest and of peasant and indigenous peoples’ crops throughout Colombia;
  5. To support and encourage LIMPAL Colombia in its opposition to the repressive, militaristic measures of the Uribe administration and in its support for grass-roots organizations pursuing peace and economic justice.

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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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