WILPF Advocacy Documents

Haiti

Statement on aid provision in Haiti

Human Rights
Date/month:
20 January 2010
Document type:
Position
Body submitted to:

On January 12, Haiti was hit hard by a disastrous earthquake, which damaged its capital Port-au-Prince and surroundings. Approximately three million people are dependent on medical assistance, shelter, water, food and sanitation, and corpse management. The most current estimations put the loss of life at an estimated 50.000 individuals.

This terrible earthquake has shown us the vulnerability of human life, but also that the current catastrophic circumstances are to a big extent man-made as well as nature-made. Haiti’s history of brutal colonial exploitation by the US since 1915, systematic postcolonial oppression, punitive international trade relations and status of protracted forgotten crisis, has contributed to the horror faced by Haitians today.

The coordination of relief programmes and the long term rebuilding of the Haiti should be the responsibility of the United Nations. We would like to commend the UN agencies for their fast and effective response, but want to emphasize that humanitarian assistance should never be mixed with military purposes and should never be provided by personnel in combat uniforms.

Building forth on the current UN efforts on providing gender sensitive relief aid, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom wants to urge UN Member States and Agencies to develop their efforts on:
1) The specific role and involvement of women in the provision of relief aid;
2) The participation of women in the planning and decision making of rehabilitation and development efforts and;
3) Disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness projects in the rehabilitation and development phase.

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom would like to make the following recommendations to UN Member States and Agencies involved with the current distribution of relief aid in Haiti:

  • Increase the role played by the main UN bodies involved (OCHA, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF) in the coordination of humanitarian efforts;
  • Link relief, rehabilitation and development to democratic political institution building, with a focus on increasing the representation of women;
  • Focus on disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness projects with a leading role for women, as they are the most vulnerable;
  • Increase the establishment of food and cash-for-work programmes with a specific gender focus;
  • Ensure the protection of women in the current break-down of rule of law, in a similar manner as UNICEF ensures the protection of children.

Our thoughts and good wishes go to all the children, women and men in Haiti.

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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.

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.

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