What does your Section need from the 2006 IEC and what are the specific decisions that you would like to see this IEC make to further your work?

• A more equitable international fee structure.

• A discussion of membership development and retention and a strengthening of the membership focus of the leadership development committee.

• Resolutions and political discussion around them that confirms or establishes WILPF’s policies.

• Clearer leadership and information over the Cuba Conference.

• Discussion of how we can “return to our roots” – delegations to world leaders to stop war

Geneva Office

We would like some feedback on the section mailing

The UK Section has been very pleased to receive regular informative monthly section mailings this year. We really feel that we are in touch with our International organization. We have used the drafted letters and information supplied, to lobby our own government. We generally circulate the mailing in the format in which it comes to our 50+ members who have opted to join our national e-group ukwilpf

What information from the Geneva Office would be helpful to you?

We would like to see directives from Geneva Sections about programme areas to be addressed by Sections.

What do you see as priority issues for the work of the Geneva Office?

The priority for the Geneva Office is to hold our International organisation together, disseminating WILPF information and maintaining good lines of communication with Sections.

How could we improve communication between us?

The international website needs more regular updating, with more information about our current programme work.  Our Section's information. is incomplete and needs to have our website added to our other Section details so that it is readily available.

UN Office (New York)

What information from the UN Office would be helpful to you?

We receive and circulate to ukwilpf the publicity information circulated by the UN itself on women-focused developments/activities and speeches.

It would be good to receive regular mailings from the UN WILPF office (like the Briefing paper linked to the May Geneva mailing) that give us a WILPF analysis of the developments and reforms at the UN. It is difficult for us to grasp the implications of everything that is happening.

What do you see as priority issues for the work of the UN Offcie?

We think this is to monitor what is happening at the UN, develop and maintain a gender analysis of UN developments, activities, agencies, documents, etc. and work with other women’s networks and organisations in New York to lobby the UN from our position. Keeping WILPF members informed about this (see above) should follow from this work.

How could we improve communication between us?

Although the peacewomen newsletter is an excellent resource of information, it needs to include action points for WILPF sections.

Do you use the Reaching Critical Will website?

Yes

If so for what? What is the most useful? What would make the site more useful for you?

Appreciated but under utilized

Do you read the RCW E-news reports on CD, UN GA 1st Committee, NPT?

We subscribed to the e-news reports at the time of the NPT and circulated them among non-WILPF activists when we were leading a group that was preparing to lobby several London- based embassies on the NPT Review Conference.

Do you use the Peace Women website?

Yes

If so for what? What is the most useful? What would make the site more useful for you?

We have used PeaceWomen to publicise events like the Wilton Park Conference and other 1325 activities of ours. We also make sure that civil servants and Members of Parliament are aware of it as a good source of information. When the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) issued a press release on their 1325 Action Plan we made sure it contained a link to PeaceWomen.

Do you read the Peace Women E-news?

We circulate it on our e-list and often pick up on individual items.

What could be improved?

It is hard to think of what could be improved without a considerable increase in resources.

Does the work of your section relate to the United Nations?

Yes

If so how?

As a Section, in our campaigning we promote use of the UN and its agencies as the way for government/peoples to work at international level. During the past year promoting the Millennium Development Goals has been on our agenda.

We generally manage to send a delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. This year we sent a new member who gained good experience and has reported back in person to branches and submitted an excellent report to the Section. We also work with other UK women’s organizations and networks over gender issues and the UN.

Many of our members have been individual members of the United Nations Association (UNA) and worked in its local branches over the years. This year UK WILPF affiliated to UNA and submitted and spoke to a resolution at its AGM on SCR 1325, which was passed. The UNA website has a link to UK WILPF. We have spoken to local and regional UNA groups trying to provide a WILPF analysis of the changes at the UN and promoting SCR 1325 and the International Criminal court (CC). WILPF branches work with UNA branches at local level to put on public meetings.

UK WLPF is also affiliated to a smaller, more radical organization called Action for UN Renewal and has links with another group: Arms Reduction Coalition (ARC) which is using Article 26 of the UN Charter to promote arms reduction. We network with UNGA Link United Nations General Assembly Link with Civil Society

Some of our members subscribed to the International WILPF discussion on Researching reform of the UN.

Does your Section work on WILPF’s International Program?

Yes

What is your main focus?

UK WILPF’s approach to campaigning is to promote the whole of our International Programme to new members joining WILPF and to attempt to address as many aspects of this Programme as possible in our work. Since November 2005 we have re-established working groups, now functioning on e-mail, which discuss, circulate information, and where appropriate write consultation responses or draft letters on: Global Economic Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Disarmament and Demilitarization, SCR 1325, and Researching Reform of the UN. These groups met at our AGM to plan campaigns.

Background information, appeals to sign petitions, attend meetings, demos and vigils are circulated on our members’ e-group, (ukwilpf) where discussions can also develop.

Currently we have WILPF leaflets available for use by local groups and at national events on: SCR1325, violence against women, women say no to nuclear power, women against war, women for economic justice, women and water, and the G8 expenditure on arms and aid.

About a third of our members are not in a WILPF branch. If they are not on e-mail their contact with WILPF is limited to postal mailings about five times a year: Peace and Freedom Updates or Journal, and the Annual Report. We try to enclose with the mailing something for them to do, like a postcard campaign.

Global Economic Justice?

How?

Yes

Our members have been active in the Trade Justice Movement (TJM) campaign on Corporate Responsibility. Company Law was before Parliament for revision and we circulated TJM postcards to all members and talked to groups about this campaign that appeals to MPs to vote for

• Companies to be legally required to report on their social and environmental impacts,

• Directors to be legally obliged to minimize any damage their company does to local communities and the environment.

• People overseas harmed by the activities of a UK company to be able to take action against them in a UK court.

UK WILPF also networks with various other groups such as the Jubilee Debt Coalition and the 2005 Make Poverty History campaign (part of GCAP) We are represented on the Gender Expert and Trade Group: contributing to its consultation papers with government and participating in the Trade Policy Consultative Forum meetings with government.

We provided a submission to the UK government’s consultation on "Eliminating World Poverty”.

UK WILPF has joined the Gender and Development Network (GAD), which represents more than 130 UK based organizations campaigning for the economic empowerment of women in trade, globalisation, poverty and injustice. The GAD Network is the UK platform to the Women In Development in Europe (WIDE), which is the European coalition to lobby the EU on the gender mainstreaming in global economic justice.

Environmental Sustainability?

Yes

How?

We have taken the following actions:

• Had a presence on the national Climate Change demonstration in London in December.

• Produced a leaflet “Women say NO to Nuclear Power” which we featured at a conference run by the UK and Irish nuclear free local authorities to commemorate the 20th. Anniversary of Chernobyl.

• Recently UK WILPF made a submission to the UK Government’s Energy Review, advocating renewable and other alternative technologies and energy efficiency measures. The submission detailed the disadvantages of new nuclear power, its links with nuclear weapon production and the effect of climate change on women’s lives.

• We wrote to our Foreign Secretary on the lines suggested by Geneva about the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.

Disarmament and Demilitarization?

Yes

How?

We have made a submission to the government’s consultation on whether to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system. Individual members are active in the women’s camps at the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and WILPF member Helen John has challenged the new Serious Organised Crime and Police Act which potentially criminalizes almost any non-violent peace campaigning. She walked into Menwith Hill base which is the US listening post in Yorkshire used for its weapons in space programme and the American Lakenheath air base and has been arrested several times but not yet charged. We have written to the local planning authority about new developments at Aldermaston AWE linked to the development of a new generation of nuclear weapons which is believed to have been started there.

We participate in all national demonstrations against the occupation of Iraq and against an attack on Iran, joining and sometimes leading a “Women against all war” contingent and distributing our own leaflets. We have written to out Foreign Secretary on the lines of international WILPF’s letter about the UK/EU/US policy on Iran. We work closely with Women in Black in public vigils and events against militarism and war. We promoted the international on-line petition initiated by Code Pink to get 100,000 signatures for ending the occupation of Iraq and were part of a delegation with signatures to Downing Street (the PM’s residence) on International Women’s Day.

Water?

Yes

How?

Our Global Economic Justice working group met at the AGM and agreed to support  the  key campaign being run by the World  Development Movement (WDM) www.dirtyaid.org  against Water privatization with letters to MPs. A WDM worker spoke on this subject at our annual seminar in November 2005.  

We continue to disseminate the leaflet on women and water we produced last year for the Global Campaign Against Poverty (GCAP)/Make Poverty History campaign, and as a Section signed an e-letter to the EU Commissioner on water privatisation.

SCR 1325/Women and Peace and Security Issues? Yes

How?

UK WILPF is represented on the UK working group, now called GAPS (Gender Action for Peace and Security) which is a full partner with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Ministry of Defence (MOD), Department for Development (DFID) and the Canadian International Development Agency in the Wilton Park Conference held from 30 May to 2 June: “Peace and Security: Implementing SCR 1325”. GAPS has also lobbied government officials and worked with Joan Ruddock MP in the creation of an All Party Parliamentary Group on 1325. WILPF members have spoken on 1325 on a number of occasions on behalf of UK WILPF and a PowerPoint presentation produced by one of our members has also been used on behalf of WILPF in a UNA workshop.

Susi Snyder came to London to speak on SCR 1325 as an important part of our seminar in 2005 on “Women into Decision Making – Achieving Peace and Economic Justice”.

Two members of the Y-WILPF network have represented UK WILPF at the 4th European Social Forum (ESF) in Athens in May 2006, and jointly with WILPF sections from Germany and Sweden, presented a seminar on “Women, War, Peace and Poverty”, exposing the European experience on implementing the SCR 1325 and the UK National Action Plan

.

Women’s political participation?

Yes

How?

The UK government has recently subsumed women’s and racial justice issues in a new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR). At our AGM we passed a resolution asking the government for mechanisms that would properly address women’s issues. At that meeting the keynote speaker’s topic was Why we still need women’s organisations in 2006. We are following this up with Women’s Unfinished Agenda as our seminar subject at the IEC.

We wrote to our Foreign Secretary about considering a woman for the next Secretary General of the UN.

We sent a Y-WILPF member to represent UK WILPF at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March.

Sexual and Gender based violence issues?

How?

In 2006 the Section submitted a response to the UK government’s consultation paper on human trafficking. We initiated a national campaign lobbying government on the issue. Sets of 4 postcards addressed to 3 different government ministers and to the sender’s MP, were circulated to members and to other organisations. To date 4,500 have been printed and most have been distributed. We have had good support particularly from other women’s organizations, but limited government response.

Thanks to pressure from the WILPF member in NAWO (National Alliance of Women’s organisations), the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women is coming to the UK in the Autumn to conduct a European-wide consultation as part of her mandate. We have spoken at conferences, stood in vigils with other women’s organizations, campaigned with our leaflet on this issue, marched in Reclaim the Night demos and hosted women speakers on this issue. A WILPF speaker led workshops on violence against women at a national feminist conference in November.

Yes

What is the political situation in your country?

Many former supporters of the Labour government and “New Labour” are now disillusioned. We do not support the government’s position on the Iraq war or the ‘War on Terror.’ We see the government eroding and trying to further stifle civil liberties and human rights. We are concerned about the decline in social services as they are increasingly outsourced and/or privatised. We see a rise in racism, mainly in the form of Islamophobia. The recent local elections saw increased support for the British National Party (BNP), a racist far-right party. The PM is so convinced of his own positions that he does not appear to listen to other government ministers or his own party, let alone act in a responsive way to the public.

If through the disillusionment of the electorate the current government ere defeated at a general election, the alternative in a “first past the post” situation at national level, the Conservative Party would be even more reactionary