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Honouring Antonia Sani, Former President of WILPF Italy

Today WILPF is mourning the loss of long-time activist and former president of WILPF Italy – Antonia Sani.

Image credit: Patrizia Sterpetti
  • 2 min
Patrizia Sterpetti
16 November 2022

Antonia Sani joined the board of WILPF Italy in 1992 and from 2011 until 2018 was the fourth president after Giovanna Pagani, Miriam Pellegrini Ferri, and Ada Donno.

A teacher by profession, since the 1970s she has been known in Italy as a great activist for the revival of the Constitution, for Public Schools, for Laity, and for human rights and women’s rights in particular. On joining WILPF she followed many world conflicts and welcomed many women from countries in crisis (Palestine, Albania, Haiti…). She worked on the establishment of the International Criminal Court, worked for the popularization of UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, and in writing Italy’s National Action Plans; worked for the project to establish an Independent National Institution for the protection of human rights that does not exist in Italy; wrote reports for Italy’s Universal Periodic Review on women’s rights. She was one of the presidents of the A.F.F.I. Federative Feminist Association International, based in the International House of Women in Rome. In recent years, she particularly focused on nuclear disarmament, advocating for Italy’s ratification of the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty as the liaison for ICAN.

Antonia was the wife of Massimo Sani, a filmmaker and documentary filmmaker who devoted many works to World War II. They lived for some years in Munich, and because of this, Antonia spoke German well.

Despite living with cancer in her later years, Antonia did not stop being active, A woman of great intelligence and authority, she had great pedagogical and communication skills, with men and women. She dialogued and listened because those who want to change the world must first understand it.

We all loved her and will keep her as a reference to follow.

Patrizia Sterpetti, President WILPF Italy

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Patrizia Sterpetti

Patrizia Sterpetti, a cultural anthropologist, researcher, and social activist on human/environmental rights, is a member of WILPF Italy since 1992. In 2018 she was elected president of WILPF Italy.
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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.

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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.