By Emma Bürgisser
What better occasion than our 99th Anniversary to start our 100 Blog Series, and what an honour to write the first entry!
Our new Blog Series will feature contributors as diverse as WILPF itself, each telling us how they are part of the Women’s Power to Stop War movement. We hope to add a personal touch to our site with this initiative and showcase some of the fantastic work peacemakers are doing every day, so keep an eye out for our next contribution.
‘Great, but what else is going on during the 99th’, you ask?
Great Question! We’ve taken the 99th as the opportunity to also launch our Anniversary Atlas, which is the embodiment of Women’s Power to Stop War in Connecting, Strengthening and Celebrating the work of women peacemakers all over the world. The brainchild of my predecessor Petra Totterman Andorff, planned and designed by me, and finally put together by our fantastic Anniversary intern Jessie Smith, I hope the Atlas will remain an active feature of WILPF moving forward beyond our 100th and connect us all to each other’s work.
The 99th also marks our 3rd episode in the Women’s Power to Stop War Webinar Series, hosted by our beloved Vanessa Far this past weekend. Vanessa delivered an absolutely crucial message to all peace activists on how to use a row of new international instruments to advocate for change, so make sure you catch the recording going up soon if you couldn’t make it to the live session. Finally, the 99th also marks the launch of the 2015 Conference and Congress Registrations, so we can all start planning our journeys to The Hague right now!
Perhaps most important to note about the 99th, especially with the opening of registrations, is that it has begun to dawn on me we really are only one year away now from our 100th Anniversary, and still so much to do!
I hope therefore the 99th is an opportunity for all WILPFers to take a moment, consider our founding women of 1915 and think about how you are carrying on their courageous work almost 100 years later. Once you find the answer, then you’ll know why you are part of Women’s Power to Stop War!
Check out the Anniversary website Women’s Power to Stop War here.
