Calendar
mywilpf
Donate

Celebrating Feminists’ Voices, Inspiring Global Peace

Back to all news

WILPF is Getting Ready for the 16th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325

17 October 2016

In one week, WILPF will join civil society organisations worldwide in commemorating the 16th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 (2000), the pioneering resolution recognising how women and a gender perspective are relevant from negotiating peace agreements to planning refugee camps and reconstructing war-torn societies.

Group photo
Participants of a WILPF Workshop organised at last year’s 15th Anniversary of 1325. (Photo: Ashish Mahajan)

One year ago, the 2015 High Level Review and Global Study on Women, Peace and Security provided the evidence base for action. It recognised conflict prevention and financing as key gap areas of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. As Global Study lead author Radhika Coomaraswamy has stated, “No to militarisation, yes to prevention, that is what the women claim!”

Now it is time and past time to close the implementation and accountability gap. As part of our coalition, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, we have shared an open letter signed by over 250 organisations from 55 countries calling for strong progress on commitments, including around key gap areas of financing, conflict prevention, and disarmament.

WILPF at the 16th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325 (2000)

In connection with the annual UN Security Council Women Peace and Security debate on 25th October, WILPF is hosting a delegation of women human rights activists from Libya, Yemen, and Syria in New York and are working with the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security to support a civil society speaker at the debate.

As part of our work amplifying the voices of grassroots women and promoting accountability, we will also launch an expanded Security Council Scorecard calling for strengthened action on conflict prevention and disarmament.  We will also contribute to a variety of events, and of course monitor the debate.

  • Wednesday October 19th (9:00AM): ‘Measuring State Commitments to Women, Peace and Security: Launch of WILPF’s Expanded WPS Security Council Scorecard’ (WEBINAR)
  • Monday, October 24th (9:00AM): ‘From destabilising violence to inclusive peace: Local to Global Conversations’ (Internal WILPF Workshop).
  • Monday, October 24th (3:30PM): ‘Connecting Grassroots and International Efforts for Action on Women, Peace and Security: Leveraging our Local to Global Movements‘
  • Wednesday, October 26th: ‘Closing the Gap: How to Connect Grassroots and International Efforts to Enhance the WPS Agenda’ (Closed Roundtable).
  • Wednesday & Thursday, 26th and 27th October: ‘Masculinities, Youth and Violence in Crisis Settings‘ (Closed workshop by WILPF, Men Engage, and UNDP).
  • Thursday October 27th (1:00PM): ‘Financing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda: Good Practice and Lessons Learned for Accountability and Implementation’ (UNHQ TBC; by WILPF, GNWP, UN Women, and the missions to the UN of Australia, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom).

How You Can Get Involved

There are many ways for you to increase the momentum of UNSCR 1325 this October, whether you are in New York, or engaged elsewhere:

  • You can find the commitments your country made in 2015 in our Women, Peace and Security on peacewomen.org. Join us in calling for your governments to share how they have taken action to hold them accountable!
  • Join us at our events, or share and learn about our content on social media with the hashtags #WILPF #UNSCR1325 #WomenPeaceSecurity and @WILPF @Peace_Women.
  • Register here to attend our webinar on the Security Council Scorecard on October 19th, 9:00am (ET) / 3:00pm (CEST).
  • Tune-in to UN Web-TV on October 25th to watch the UN Security Council Women, Peace and Security Open Debate.
  • Support our #MoveTheMoney Campaign by reviewing our toolkit on WPS Financing! Ask your government to support WILPF’s demands to finance feminist peace and gender justice.
  • Will you be engaged in the 16th Anniversary of 1325? Feel free to share your experience with us in the comments below. We look forward to hearing from you!

Find more information about the debate.

Get more information about the WPS debate and read the PeaceWomen highlights from the Secretary General’s 2016 report on Women, Peace and Security.

Find more information about WILPF action around the 16th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325. 

 

Share the post

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

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris facilisis luctus rhoncus. Praesent eget tellus sit amet enim consectetur condimentum et vel ante. Nulla facilisi. Suspendisse et nunc sem. Vivamus ullamcorper vestibulum neque, a interdum nisl accumsan ac. Cras ut condimentum turpis. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; Curabitur efficitur gravida ipsum, quis ultricies erat iaculis pellentesque. Nulla congue iaculis feugiat. Suspendisse euismod congue ultricies. Sed blandit neque in libero ultricies aliquam. Donec euismod eget diam vitae vehicula. Fusce hendrerit purus leo. Aenean malesuada, ante eu aliquet mollis, diam erat suscipit eros, in.

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.

Skip to content