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WILPF Resolutions
Adopted at the International Board Meeting
24 November 2008
Resolution on Ending the Israel/Palestine Conflict
On this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestine People–29 November 2008–and in this 60th anniversary year of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom calls again on the United Nations and the entire international community to take the steps needed to end the occupation of the Arab Territories occupied by Israel since 1967 and to enable the Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination.
We call on all UN Member States to take their responsibility in seeing that Israel complies with the many UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions to end the conflict, as well as with the 2004 International Court of Justice Opinion, “Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in Occupied Territory”.
WILPF supports the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur of the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories. In his report of 25 August 2008, he recommends, among other things, that “the United Nations should explore its own responsibility with respect to the wellbeing of the Palestinians living under unlawful condition of occupation particularly bearing on abuses of border control, freedom and independence of journalists, and the general crisis in health care, especially in Gaza”.
Ending the catastrophic situation of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that has been brought about by Israel’s actions and the gross violations of human rights of the Palestinian people must be a priority for the international community.
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom works for Peace and Justice for all people living in the Middle East Region.
WILPF members were asked to send this to their governments, UN representatives, and local and national media on 29 November 2008.
Read this in German by clicking here.
Resolution on the Democratic Republic of Congo
Acutely conscious of the serious scale of the renewed fighting in the North Kivu and Ituri, in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in breach of all previous peace agreements, and that the majority of casualties are women and children;
Aware of the inability of MONUC (UN peacekeepers) to protect displaced Congolese families, and in some cases their complicity in the violence;
Mindful that this is a proxy war being fought by mercenaries on behalf of international corporations for the control for the rich mineral resources of the Eastern DRC, including Coltan, essential for mobile phones;
Mindful that the proliferation of arms in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, including those sold by multinational corporations and those resold within and across borders, exacerbates the situation and makes sexual violence against women more prevalent and more violent;
Aware that governments in the Great Lakes Region of Africa are complicit in the impunity enjoyed by militia leaders and warlords waging war and destroying the environment;
This International Board of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, (WILPF), meeting in Geneva, Switzerland from 19–24 November 2008:
- Calls on the UN and the African Union immediately to broker talks between governments within the African Great Lakes Region for an immediate end to the conflict in the DRC and for the respect and implementation of previously signed peace agreements;
- Invokes UN SCR 1325 and calls on the Secretary General of the UN to set in place long-term peace-building plans and mechanisms in the DRC that will include representatives of grass-roots women’s organisations;
- Calls on the UN General Assembly to urge Member States to cease sales of arms to governments and other actors in this area and to put in place rigorous safeguards against the proliferation of arms in and between countries in the Great Lakes Region of Africa;
- Invites WILPF’s national sections to research and publicise the root causes of the conflict in the DRC, the involvement of other governments and multinational companies, and to use this information to lobby their own governments to prevent the recurrence of proxy wars in the DRC;
- Congratulates and affirms Congolese women peace activists for their relentless effort in their campaign for peace in the Great Lakes Region;
- Encourages Congolese women who have come together since 2007 to form the WILPF DRC Group, who are actively working hard to lobby their government on issues of violence and women’s rights; who have made heroic efforts to come to Europe to share their experiences and analysis of the situation in DRC, and who recently marked the UN day for rural women with an event near Kinshasa offering around 100 participants a WILPF vision for women, peace and security and for the protection of the environment in the DRC.
This resolution became two—one directed at UN member states, the other to WILPF members. Each retained the same preambular paragraphs but the operational paragraphs were directed toward the appropriate audience.
Resolution on the Global Economic Crisis
Aware that the global financial crisis is the product of the speculation and greed of unfettered capitalism, and that the effects will be felt across the globe, most keenly by the poorest people in the world, 70% of whom are women;
Aware of the potential for the present international economic and banking crisis to affect the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, and for the current economic difficulties to be used as a rationale by some governments to reduce the financial commitments needed to address both the global food emergency and global warming;
Conscious of the dangers that the effects of climate change are having, and will have, on poor people's lives and livelihoods—particularly those of women and children;
Recognising the vital importance of global financial regulation to move the world towards an economic system that puts the needs of people before profit;
This International Board of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, (WILPF), meeting in Geneva, Switzerland from 19–24 November 2008:
- Welcomes the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) proposal (launched on 22 October 2008) for a Green Economic Initiative for investment to tackle climate change while stimulating employment expansion within a more environmentally-friendly economy. This includes clean energy and technologies; sustainable agriculture; ecosystem infrastructure; reduced emissions; and sustainable urban planning;
- Calls upon the UN Security Council, UN General Assembly and member governments to take urgent steps to reduce the 1339 billion dollars global military expenditure, and release resources to support this UNEP initiative and the work of the UN agencies towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals;
- Urges theUN General Assembly to recognise that the structure and remit of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund must be reviewed to provide agreed international regulation and control on speculative financial dealings, and to support economic systems that facilitate the development of the poorest economies for the benefit of their peoples;
- Further urges the UN to call on the World Trade Organisation to put the real needs of people in developing countries at the top of its agenda;
- Also urges the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme to take appropriate measures to monitor the implementation of the right to food and freedom from hunger.
This resolution was sent to UN member states, World Food Programme, World Trade Organisation, and Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Resolution on Military Spending
Recognising that military spending world wide in 2007 was $US 1.3 trillion and that this is an inordinate percentage of the world’s total expenditure;
Aware that the largest military spender is the United States of America with a military budget of 45% of the world military budget;
Cognisant that corporations such as Halliburton, Parsons Corporation, Bechtel, Fluor Corporation, and others are profiteering from current wars, especially the Iraq war;
Also cognizant that corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Bechtel, Boeing, and others profit from the excessive design, development, production, and trade of weapon systems;
Aware that civilians, especially women and children, are the majority of victims of the war machinery that delivers destruction, despair, and impoverishment to millions of people around the world;
Also aware that economic resources should be spent on human development and security rather than the means of destruction;
Recognising that the United Nations and its many agencies, which were set up to foster peace, equality, and understanding between nations, are severely constrained by the limited funds available for their work;
Also recognising that the United Nations has tools to monitor, regulate, and reduce the arms trade and military spending, including Article 26 of the UN Charter, the UN Register for Conventional Arms, and the UN Instrument for Reporting Military Expenditure;
The International Board of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, 19 - 26 November 2008:
- Regards this disproportionate expenditure as a legitimised robbery of the world’s people;
- Calls on WILPF sections around the world to lobby their national leaders to work for a radical restructuring of global spending priorities in order to ensure that the world’s wealth is used for addressing real human needs, and that it is equitably distributed;
- Encourages WILPF Sections to monitor discussions on Article 26 and regulating the arms trade at the United Nations, especially at the Security Council and the General Assembly;
- Urges WILPF members to encourage their governments to contribute to the UN Register for Conventional Arms and the UN Instrument for Reporting Military Expenditures and to participate in discussions on Article 26, the arms trade, and military spending;
- Further urges WILPF members to encourage other non-government organizations to join our campaigns for reducing military spending and the arms trade and to raise awareness about Article 26 and the other UN tools.
This resolution was circulated to all WILPF sections.
Resolution on the US military base in Guam
Expressing its outrage over the build-up of United States military forces on the island of Guam, which has accelerated since 2005;
Recognising that the island of Guam has been the home of the Chamoru people for over 4,000 years;
Aware that Guam has endured colonisation by Spain from 1521, and since the Treaty of Paris in 1898, has been colonised by the United States of America except for a brief period of occupation by Japan during the Second World War;
Also aware that one third of the island of Guam is now occupied by the United States’ Andrew’s Air Base establishment with personnel and families numbering 35,000, while the total number of Chamoru people is 52,800;
Deploring the fact that the rights of the native people of Guam are being undermined in their own country by the build-up of US forces; and that, as a consequence, the infrastructure of the island is failing and the native people are rapidly losing their culture;
Noting that self-government is not being encouraged and representation in the United States Congress is symbolic and at the United Nations merely tokenistic;
The International Board of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, 19–26 November 2008:
- Urges that this violation of Article 73 (a) and (b) of the United Nations Charter be addressed in the case of Guam and calls on the United States of America to relinquish its base and withdraw its forces in order to respect moves towards sovereignty for the native people of Guam.
- Urges the UN Secretary-General take the necessary steps to respond to the wishes of the people of Guam to achieve its independence and right to self-determination.
- Requests the Special Committee on Decolonisation and the UN General Assembly Fourth Committee on Special Political and Decolonisation take up the issue for consideration.
This resolution was sent to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Special Committee on Decolonisation, and the Chair of the UNGA Fourth Committee on Special Political and Decolonisation.
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