From 10–21 November, WILPF will participate in the 30th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Belém, Brazil. Bringing a global feminist and anti-militarist perspective, WILPF will call on governments to #MoveTheMoney — away from weapons and war, and towards people-centred climate solutions that advance peace, justice, and care for the planet.
This year, WILPF will be represented by WILPF Colombia (Limpal), a Section from the region working actively on climate justice. Valentina and Natalia will amplify our demands and support collective advocacy with the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), Climate Action Network (CAN), Global Energy Embargo for Palestine and the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative and the WGC Peace and Demilitarisation Working Group, founded by WILPF in 2023.
This year, a WILPF delegation comprises of:
Natalia is an ecofeminist with extensive experience coordinating international cooperation projects that promote the social, political, and economic agency of women in all their diversity. Her work has focused on strengthening women’s leadership to demand their rights and to participate actively and effectively in advocacy processes related to peacebuilding and development policies.
She has also worked to highlight the intersections between economics and feminist political ecology within the framework of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, approaching this work from an anti-militarist feminist perspective. Since 2021, she has served as the Coordinator of the Women, Peace and Security Programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in Colombia.
It is very important to be part of this delegation at COP30, as it represents great recognition of the work we are doing in Colombia and the networks we have been building in Latin America and the Caribbean with regard to climate justice, the defense of territories, the protection of biodiversity, and the demilitarisation of life as part of peacebuilding from a feminist perspective. At COP30, we will continue to promote these agendas, which we have been working on together with the WILPF International team.
Valentina is a researcher in feminist political advocacy, leading research initiatives on ecofeminism and territorial defense grounded in critical Latin American and feminist perspectives. Her work has included monitoring gender measures within the Colombian Peace Agreement and contributing to research on the Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty and the impacts of extractivism on women in Colombia. She is deeply convinced that other futures are possible — ones free from environmental devastation, where buen vivir is embraced as an emancipatory horizon.
With COP30 taking place in Latin America, we have the opportunity to continue amplifying the voices of women from the Global South within climate justice, peacebuilding, and gender agendas — grounded in a decolonial and intersectional feminist perspective — while also highlighting the urgency of demilitarisation in the context of the energy transition and the ongoing global crises of war, genocide and ecocide.
Join WILPF’s delegation and allies in exploring the intersections of peace, climate justice, and demilitarisation at COP30:
Deepen your understanding through these essential resources:
Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.
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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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 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 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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
