Advancing Peace through Feminist Political Economy

We believe that the foundation for permanent and just peace is multifaceted. It is not just the absence of war and violence. Peace also comes from living and being part of thriving societies. Societies that are sustainable, just, equal and inclusive.

The grim reality is that we live in a world dominated by capitalism — a system that is profoundly unjust and builds on exploitation, destruction and oppression of people, communities and entire countries. We are not supposed to question how wealth is created and distributed, or who and what it harms. Capitalism affects every aspect of our lives, be it in the public or private sphere.

Through the lens of feminist political economy, WILPF — together with many organisations and activists around the world — advocates for political and economic policies that will put an end to destruction, exploitation, gender, racial and other inequalities and injustices, and that are centred around ecological sustainability and solidarity within and between countries.

Why Feminist Political Economy?

The current mainstream political economy is based on capitalism and neoliberalism, fuelling inequality, violence, injustices and environmental destruction. Using the lens of feminist political economy, WILPF seeks to challenge and deconstruct the existing system by focusing on how gender determines our social, political and economic relationships and structures.

Our vision is a world free of capitalism and its destructive tools of war and oppression, where just and equal societies are built on democratic, inclusive and transparent policies that promote equality, solidarity, social cohesion and justice.

Using feminist political economy as part of our analysis helps us advance our thinking on what comprehensive and transformative social and gender justice approaches to peace can look like. It also helps us show how current approaches to conflict and post-conflict reconstruction and recovery are blind to equality and social justice.

Watch our feminist political economy explainer video to learn more!

What We Do

Analysis

We use feminist political economy as an analytical lens to understand and make known the systems of oppression in our societies that lead to precarity, inequality, exploitation, conflicts and destruction. We also use feminist political economy analysis to dismantle these systems and reimagine alternatives that build sustainable, feminist, demilitarised societies based on equality, justice, solidarity and care.

Advocacy

By using feminist political economy, WILPF seeks to understand the political economy of war and post-conflict recovery and deconstruct seemingly fixed and unchangeable economic, social and political parameters of reconstruction and recovery processes. We use our analysis to push back against financialisation of recovery processes and to advocate for public investments that prioritise gender-just recovery and inclusive and transparent decision-making processes.

Learning and Knowledge Sharing

We believe that feminist political economy is needed to help us imagine a world free from injustice, violence and systems of oppression that profit from suffering. That is why we work on learning how to use feminist political economy throughout all our programmes and engage in dialogues with our Sections, partners and other networks so that we can collectively formulate transformative, feminist political economy approaches on a national, regional and global level.

Collaborations

Over the years we have brought our feminist political economy analysis and thinking around post-conflict reconstruction and recovery to various spaces — from feminist solidarity dialogues, academic conversations and writings and the work of our Sections and partners, to networks and other collective efforts to push back against systems of oppression.

Contact Us

Nela Porobić Isaković

Feminist Political Economy Focal Point
nela.porobic (a) wilpf.org

Your donation isn’t just a financial transaction; it’s a step toward a more compassionate and equitable world. With your support, we’re poised to achieve lasting change that echoes through generations. Thank you!

Thank you!

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.