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International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

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Title: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination When: 21 March 2025 Event Type:International Day About:The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March to commemorate the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, where police killed 69 peaceful protesters opposing apartheid laws. This day serves as a reminder […]

Human Rights Council 58th Session (HRC58)

Title: Human Rights Council 58th Session (HRC58) Convener:United Nations Human Rights Council Open to:Public (with accreditation) When:24 February – 4 April 2025Opening: 24 February, 9:00 AM CETLocation: Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva Event Type:High-level session, panel discussions, interactive dialogues, country reviews About: The 58th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC58) will take place […]

Half-day general discussion to prepare for the elaboration of a General Recommendation on the impact of gender stereotypes  

Title: Half-day general discussion to prepare for the elaboration of a General Recommendation on the impact of gender stereotypes   Convener: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee)  Open to: Public but participation in person requires a UN grounds pass.   When: 17 February 2025   Event Type: United Nations event  About: CEDAW Committee’s Half-day general discussion to prepare for the […]

Financing for Feminist Futures

Despite progress, no country has yet achieved gender equality. Feminist movements and civil society organizations are crucial to drive change, yet they often operate with limited resources, especially in the Majority World. The rise of well-funded anti-rights movements and reductions in Official Development Assistance further challenge these efforts. The Financing for Feminist Futures conference seeks […]

Financing for Development Forum

Logo for Financing for Development Forum featuring a colorful circular design with overlapping geometric shapes in orange, red, purple, blue, and green to the left of the text.

Title: Financing for Development Forum  Host: ECOSOC, UN, New York  Open to: ECOSOC members only  When: 22-25 April   Event type: Advocacy forum  About: At the midpoint of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), more than half of the SDG targets have seen weak or insufficient progress while nearly a third are stalled or reversing. Development finance is more needed than […]

Human Rights Council High-Level Panel Discussion on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

Title:Human Rights Council Annual High-Level Panel Discussion on Human Rights Mainstreaming Convener: United Nations Human Rights Council When: 24 February 2025 – Time TBD Event Type: Key Advocacy Date About:The Human Rights Council’s Annual High-Level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming will focus on the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark framework for advancing […]

Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development 2025: The Future of Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding

Title: Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development 2025: The Future of Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding Dates: 13-14 May 2025 Location: Stocholm, Sweden About: The Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development is a multi-day conference featuring a series of high-level panels and roundtables as well as a range of workshops, spotlights, exhibitions and fireside chats. The Forum creates a […]

Matt Mahmoudi

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

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.

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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.