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COP29

Logo for COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, featuring a circular design of stylized leaves on the left and the text COP29 Baku Azerbaijan on the right. The design emphasizes environmental themes.

Host/event owner/convener: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) When: November 11-22, 2024 Where: In person – Baku, Azerbaijan Event type: Key advocacy About: A WILPF delegation will join COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, calling for a global reallocation of military spending toward critical climate solutions. Our delegation will advocate for stronger commitments to climate finance, addressing […]

Learning Exchange: “Voices unbound: Youth Organising in Restrictive Spaces”

Host: Young WILPF Network Open to: WILPF members only When: Friday, 11 October 2024 from 10:00-12:00 New York, 16:00-18:00 Geneva, 17:00-19:00 Baghdad, 18:30-20:30 Kabul (convert your time zone here). Event type: Global Call About the learning exchange: “Voices unbound: youth organising in restrictive spaces” – an opportunity for WILPF members and partners to exchange knowledge and experiences […]

UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, 79th Session

The 79th session of the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and InternationalSecurity is scheduled to meet in New York from 7 October to 8 November 2024. The First Committee addresses disarmament, global security challenges, and threats to peace, seeking solutions within the international security framework. It examines all disarmament and security issues under the UN […]

Disarmament Week

Disarmament Week, starting on 24 October, marks the anniversary of the United Nations and aims to raise awareness about disarmament issues. First proposed in 1978 and officially supported by the General Assembly in 1995, this week encourages governments and NGOs to promote understanding of disarmament and arms control. Disarmament is crucial for global security, reducing […]

Geneva Peace Week

Host: Geneva Peacbuilding Forum  Open to: Peeacebuilding organisations About Geneva Peace Week: Geneva Peace Week (GPW) is a leading annual forum in the Geneva peacebuilding calendar.  This week is an opportunity to connect and highlight the work of peacebuilders. GPW recognises that peacebuilding occurs in many different contexts and cuts across disciplines and sectors. In this sense, […]

Geneva Peace Week: Film Screening and Panel Discussion of Beyond Survival — Unpacking The Nexus Between Conflict, Gender and Natural Disasters

Type of event: On-site, Geneva Peace Week Hosted by: Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), The Syria Campaign (TSC) and International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) Date: 16 October 2024   Time: 11:00-12:30PM CET Venue: Conference Room of the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) About the event: Join us for a screening of a powerful docu-series highlighting the experiences of […]

Building Connections Across Antinuclear and Climate Movements

WILPF is launching its new report investigating the nexus between the nuclear and fossil fuel industries and state repression of activism against these industries. ‘Petrobromance,’ Nuclear Priesthood, and Police Repression: Feminist Confrontations of Violent Industries, and Movements to Abolish Them analyses, from a feminist and gender-transformative perspective, trends and parallels in how the nuclear and fossil fuel industries operate […]

Summit of the Future

Host: United Nations, New York Open to: Accredited members Important Dates: How to participate or follow:  https://www.un.org/en/summit-of-the-future To find out more about WILPF’s participation and to connect with WILPF members contact: membership@wilpf.org.

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.

A woman in a blue, black, and white dress smiles radiantly in front of a leafy green background.

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.