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Celebrating Feminists’ Voices, Inspiring Global Peace

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Opening of the WILPF 100 Conference: but the beginning of something memorable

27 April 2015

1,000 peacemakers from all over the world, journalists from several countries, Nobel Peace Laureates, well-known human rights activists, an amazing line up of speakers: we are all gathered in The Hague for the opening of the WILPF Centennial Conference, Women’s Power to Stop War.

WE ALL HAVE THE POWER TO STOP WAR

Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee at the opening plenary of the WILPF 100 Conference
Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee at the opening plenary of the WILPF 100 Conference. Photo by Mir Grebäck von Melen

“This is the time when we need to be together more than ever before… It’s time to stand up, sisters and do some of the most unthinkable things… We have the power to stop war and turn our upsidedown world right.”

The words of Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee resonate in the mind of the hundreds of people attending the highly anticipated opening session of the Women’s Power to Stop War Conference.

The plenary is a whirlwind of emotions and inspirational speeches by some of the most committed peacemakers worldwide, including WILPF’s Secretary General Madeleine Rees; Nobel Laureates Leymah Gbowee, Shirin Ebadi, Mairead Maguire and Jody Williams; ultimate WILPF member Edith Ballantyne and Democracy Now! Executive Producer Amy Goodman.

LAUNCHING A GLOBAL MOVEMENT

“What is heroic is when people come together to save the planet… If we really want to transform the world, we need to reclaim peace… Nobody changes the world alone. We need to come together,” reiterates Nobel Laureate Jody Williams.

“This is a movement for change… It starts today, in this room. Let’s do it!” says our own Madeleine Rees. The message that comes out of this session is a powerful call to action for us all: we ALL can play a role in peacemaking. This is the reason why we are all here today.

COMMEMORATING 100 YEARS OF PEACEMAKING

Conference opening and WILPF’s newly adopted Manifesto. Photo by Mir Grebäck von Melen

The Conference is the culmination of years of work and planning to commemorate WILPF’s 100th anniversary in The Hague, the city where our organisation was founded in 1915, and reiterate our commitment to peace in a world that is still torn by violent conflicts.

Five plenaries, more than 40 sessions, over 100 speakers, 1,000 participants from over 80 countries – including women from war zones: it is impossible not to feel that what we are living here and now is something memorable, something powerful, something truly global.

 

ARE YOU READY TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE?

Indeed, looking at the audience of the Conference, what strikes the most is the incredible diversity of people uniting this global movement. Women and men of all ages, from all over the world and from different political, philosophical, religious and ethnic backgrounds – some of them wearing beautiful local dresses – are all here today.

“Are you all ready to be part of this great change?” asks WILPF’s Vice President Joy Onyesoh with a passionate smile and a determined glimpse in her eyes.

C’est parti! The Conference has started.

Check back on this website and on our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on the Women’s Power to Stop War Conference.

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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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