for Peace and Freedom
Peace Disarmament Economic Justice Environment Racial Justice UN Human Rights Contact
| Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom |
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Peace Disarmament Economic Justice Environment Racial Justice UN Human Rights Contact |
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Dear Section Presidents, International Board Members, International Affairs Representatives and Committee Convenors, In this mailing you will find: 1. WILPF’s International Directory As always, we welcome feedback and input to these monthly mailings. If you have something to contribute to the December mailing, please send it to susi.snyder(at)wilpf.ch no later than the 12th. Please remember that you can find past monthly mailings archived on the WILPF international With warm greetings from the Geneva office. Marie Boroli 1. WILPF’s International Directory Please click here for a PDF version of WILPF’s latest International
Directory: 2. Message from the Executive Committee SG Evaluation: The Executive has spent a lot of time this month completing the evaluation of the Secretary General. According to the By Laws the President(s) shall: “in co-operation with the Executive Committee, evaluate the job performance of the Secretary General and report on it to the International Board.” The Executive Committee decided to include Diane Brace, the Convenor of the Personnel Committee, in the appraisal process. The final document was sent to the members of the International Board on the 7th of November with a deadline for responses on the 21st of November. Some Sections have not yet responded Congress Evaluation: For many reasons it is extremely important that a thorough Congress evaluation process is finalised. Quite a lot of responses have been received, and the ExCom is in the process of finalising the committee report and process so that the lessons learned and issues can be tabled by the end of 2007. WILPF International Programme: At the August ExCom meeting the ideas from the Bolivia Congress were put into a priority programme framework. International Women´s Day: Amparo Guerrero is preparing a WILPF event on the case of Colombia at the Commission on the Status of Women as part of WILPF´s efforts to make women, peace and security issues part of the celebrations of International Women´s Day. The 8 March seminar is going ahead as usual in Geneva. See below for more details. The European Sections had a regional meeting in Stockholm on the 17th and 18th of November. The theme for the seminar was European Security Policy. Annelise Ebbe, Kerstin Grebäck and Felicity Hill participated in this meeting. 3. Save the date for International Women’s Day Disarmament Seminar on 6-7 March 08 in Geneva Save the Date! International Women’s Day Disarmament Seminar Geneva - 6-7 March 2008 At What Cost? Since 1984, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom WILPF and the Geneva Forum invite you to save the date of 6 March to attend a panel to mark International Women’s Day and the 30th anniversary of the First Special Session on Disarmament, which produced a visionary document at a high point of international consensus and alarm around the dangerous waste of human and economic resources on armament. Experts and prominent persons will provide new analysis and shocking facts on the financial, political, environment and opportunity costs of military security versus human security. WILPF and the NGO Working Group on Peace and the NGO Committee for Disarmament invite NGOs to save the date of 7 March for an information, training and lobbying day. The 2008 seminar events will honour the late Randall Forsberg, a woman who left a remarkable legacy to those working for peace, disarmament and conflict prevention. She studied and made known global military policies, arms holdings, production and trade, arms control and peace-building efforts. Randall Forsberg combined expertise, passion and action, the very elements required today to prevent conflicts, to freeze and reverse the wasting of human and economic resources on weapons that kill and mutilate in wars that pollute and destroy. 4. WILPF International’s wonderful interns (Geneva and New York) WILPF International couldn’t do without the fantastic interns both in Geneva and New York and I want to take the opportunity of this monthly update to warmly thank them all. Most of the interns mentioned below will leave at the end of the year and it saddens me to say the least. I trust that their time with us was fruitful and enjoyable and I hope that they will remain active within WILPF as they represent the new peace activists generation. Please join me in thanking them again and don’t hesitate to be in touch with them directly as they are with us for another month! Marie Boroli Please read a blurb from each of the interns as well as permanent staff on WILPF Int’l website contact page: International Secretariat – Geneva • Disarmament Team • Human Rights • Economic Justice and Fundraising Team United Nations Office – New York • Reaching Critical Will Team • PeaceWomen Team 5. Update from the UN Team Edith Ballantyne Geneva, 13 November 2007 Dear All, An ‘off-season’ morning at the Palais des Nations. This week I went to the Palais des Nations (UN Office at Geneva) to meet with a young US woman researching for her university degree on how the UN human rights work developed from promoting women’s rights to promoting gender integration into the activities of the Human Rights Council (HRC) and beyond. It seems I made a suggestion at an NGO meeting some weeks ago that it would be good to have such a background paper to serve as an educational tool. She wanted to know more of how I saw ‘gender mainstreaming’ and ‘gender integration'. We had a very good talk and she promised to share the results of her research with us. While sitting and talking in the sun-baked Serpentine Lounge, I was struck by the quiet that reigned in the building. There were a good number of meetings going on, but there was none of the hustle and bustle there is when the Human Rights Council and its related meetings and consultations take place. The constituency of the world-wide NGO human rights defenders was missing. No UN body draws ‘civil society’ participation to its deliberations as does the Human Rights Council. Nevertheless, NGOs are busy preparing for the second half of the Sixth Session of the Human Rights Council. The international WILPF web site gives detailed information about the work of the Council. Julia and Giulia have been monitoring the sessions and have reported in the section mailings. They conscientiously update the WILPF web site. I want to point to just three areas of immediate concern to some of us: WILPF with three other NGOs, supported by some 50 others has approached the Bureau of the HRC through its President to urge them to hold regular encounters with all concerned NGOs and not only with a few chosen ones. This is particularly important in the case of the development of the universal periodic review process. Of concern to many of us is that in reviewing the human rights record of States, their implementation of all human rights – economic, social, cultural, civil and political – should be given equal weight in the evaluation. It is important that all concerned NGOs be involved in the development of processes and in the means of reporting in order to ensure that the universality and indivisibility of all human rights are respected. What will be the criteria used in assessing a State’s implementation of the economic, social and cultural rights? We, and many others not among the large, pure human rights NGOs, want to make our input into the development of such criteria and reporting methods. As WILPF, we have to develop our own internal mechanisms of cooperation between the UN team and the national section whose government will be under review in order to provide our information and assessment in a timely manner to the evaluation process. Another area is the manner in which the HRC will deal with the question of violation of women’s rights on a regular basis. There is no specific item on this issue on the permanent agenda of the HRC as had been the case of the old Commission. At this 6th session, the Bureau agreed to hold a special panel on Gender Integration. The Panelists were excellent and general discussion that followed showed that government delegates were affected by the presentations that were made, including statements made by NGOs. The issue now is how to build on this opening to ensure that regular attention be given to the promotion and protection of women’s rights as human rights? This will require reaching agreement among NGOs on which option to pursue : having a panel or a similar event at least once a year during one of the HRC sessions, or pressing for a permanent item on the agenda? What is your view on this? A third issue is the preparation for the review of the implementation of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. The Durban conference is being denounced by some as having been a racist conference. Preparations for the review in 2009 are slowed down by this unfair campaign. The outcome of the Durban conference gives a most valid road-map indicating the steps to be taken to end racism, racial discrimination and all other forms of discrimination based on race, colour, ethnicity, social status and background. Again, there is a need for WILPF to develop internal mechanisms that will help to contribute both nationally and internationally to making this review the means of exposing racism and discrimination and working effectively toward their elimination. 6. WILPF Side-Event Proposals for CSW 52 It seems the link to the form for event proposals was missing from our last communication. Please visit our WILPF webpage for this: or download here and complete and send to sam(at)peacewomen.org http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/CSW52/WILPF/WILPF_Event_proposal_form.doc Side Event proposals and registrations due on 5 December 2007! 7. PeaceWomen Update The last month has been a busy one for the PeaceWomen team - Sam and the team of fabulous interns - Rose, Nermina, Ruth and Robin. We recently said farewell to Hanne - our wonderful intern from WILPF Sweden. The intern programme with the Swedish Section has been going for nearly two years now and the PeaceWomen Project has benefited enormously from this experience and we are excited that it is continuing. The end of October saw the marking of the seventh anniversary or Security Council Resolution 1325 and aside from the advocacy in the lead up to the Open Debate, the team were also engaged in getting all the Debate statements up on the website - www.peacewomen.org. The team also compiled the PeaceWomen thematic index of the Open Debate. This index is compiled as an easy reference tool for those wishing to track what different governments have said on different themes. For more information on the advocacy and resources from October, these are covered in the October edition of the PeaceWomen 1325 E-News available at: http://www.peacewomen.org/news/1325News/Issue94.html Also this month PeaceWomen has been preparing an initiative for the 17th annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence - a global initiative coordinated by the Center for Women's Global Leadership. Information on this initiative will appear in the November E-news but for more on activities planned around the world visit the campaign website at: Preparations continue for the 52nd CSW in February 2008. Information on registering for the CSW was in the October update and you can also keep an eye on the PeaceWomen website. Information will be posted here: We've also been involved in several events and meetings including presentations at NYU's Wagner School, the NGO Committee on the Status of Women monthly programme meeting and Sam & Rose attended an exciting conference in Philadelphia entitled "Gender, War and Militarism." Also in early November, Sam joined WILPF Boston for their strategic planning retreat which was a great opportunity to connect the local to the international. 8. Reaching Critical Will Update From 8 October - 2 November, RCW covered and engaged in proceedings at the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. The First Committee provides space for each state to discuss their positions on disarmament-related matters, and to work together to come up with compromises or to propose language or tools to better understand and approach the issues. It offers the opportunity for states to build consensus on the issues, to reach common understandings and principles and to agree on norms of behavior. RCW pulled together a great group of NGO experts to follow the disarmament discussion at First Committee, who wrote weekly reports by topic. RCW compiled and edited these reports in the First Committee Monitor, which we then distributed both by hand to delegates every Monday morning, and electronically to a list of subscribers, who received each edition in either PDF or HTML. Both versions of every edition of the Monitor for 2007 are available online, at http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/FCM.html. In addition, RCW scanned and posted all government statements, non-papers, draft resolutions, voting results, and explanations of vote, all available online at Highlights from the First Committee: Two new draft resolutions were introduced and adopted this year that, if implemented, will contribute greatly to disarmament and international security. A/C.1/62/L.29, "Decreasing the operational readiness of nuclear weapons systems," was co-sponsored by Chile, New Zealand, Nigeria, Sweden, and Switzerland. It welcomes steps already taken by some countries to reduce the operational status of nuclear weapons, and calls for further practical steps with a view to ensuring that all nuclear weapons are removed from high alert status. The resolution was carefully drafted to avoid the semantic arguments that allow critics to easily dismiss calls for such measures. Meanwhile, A/C.1/62/L.18/Rev.1, "Effects of the use of armaments and ammunitions containing depleted uranium," was sponsored by the Non-Aligned Movement. The original text, drafted by Cuba, considers the potential harm caused by DU armaments and ammunitions on human health and the environment, and subsequently requests the Secretary-General "seek the view of Member States and relevant international organizations" on these harmful effects and submit a report to the General Assembly next year. It also requests member states "refrain from using armaments and ammunitions containing depleted uranium until studies to determine the effects of such armaments and ammunitions on human health and the environment are completed." However, in the revised version of the resolution, the paragraph on refraining from using DU armaments and ammunitions was deleted. Though the revised text is significantly less substantive than the original, the deletion of this paragraph was key to its adoption (with a vote of 122 in favour, 6 against, and 35 abstentions)—and was instrumental for dividing NATO member states. Of the 26 NATO countries, only five voted against the resolution. Now that the issue is now inscribed on the First Committee's agenda, the NAM intends to return with a stronger resolution next year. 9. Recommendations from WILPF’s delegation to Colombia Please be reminded that this Report is available on the WILPF website here: The WILPF 29th congress in Bolivia 20-27th July 2007 was very satisfied with the output of the delegation. The presentations and discussions regarding Colombia gave valuable input to the Congress in general. The Congress encourages the sections to follow up the work according to the delegation’s recommendations. WILPF Colombia will continue to send a regular information bulletin to the WILPF sections – in English and Spanish. In addition, WILPF Colombia has a web page where all the bulletins can be found:www.limpalcolombia.org. WILPF Colombia will continue the section work that focuses on 2 levels; economic and political empowerment of displaced women in Colombia as well as advocacy at the national and international level. There is an armed conflict in Colombia – contrary to what the government is saying. The "democratic security" strategy of the Colombian Government is neither democratic nor secure. The UN, the OAS and the International Committee of the Red Cross have all declared a state of armed conflict and therefore the applicability of International Humanitarian Law, which both sides are violating. WILPF International is planning to make Colombia one of the WILPF themes of the Commission of Status of Women, CSW, March 2008: The review theme of 2008's CSW is "Women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace-building". WILPF International should consider having a workshop on Colombia in a A main reason currently behind the armed conflict and the displacements is natural resources. Land, as well as minerals, carbon (coal) and petrol, and many multinational corporations are involved. The armed forces are driving the population away from the mining areas through displacements, resulting in the peasants and indigenous peoples who originally lived on the land becoming the main victims. In addition, the armed forces are protecting the activities of the multinational companies. WILPF sections in home countries of the multinationals who are involved in Colombia, e.g. WILPF US, Canada, Netherlands, Israel and UK, i.e. Colombia has one of the world's highest numbers of internally displaced persons. More than 50% are women. WILPF Colombia is working with displaced women, focusing on political and economic empowerment. The situation for union leaders is extremely difficult and several thousand union leaders were killed in 2006. Historically unions have played a leadership role in defending the rights of the majority. The unions also represent links to the labor movement internationally, and can provide current and accurate information on the actions of multinational companies. WILPF sections should follow the information about the companies based in their various countries, and the role their governments play in the International Financial Institutions (WTO, World Bank, IMF, etc.) WILPF sections can help by making connections between unions and human rights organizations in their countries. WILPF US should be in contact with the Centre for Constitutional Rights to offer legal support to the Miners' There are ongoing talks taking place between the government and armed groups in Colombia. These talks do not include women or other representatives for the civil society. There is hope that the talks will lead to a more open attitude towards the civil society, introducing topics and representation on issues such as women, land, displaced people and returnees. WILPF sections in countries that support the peace negotiations financially - Spain, Switzerland and Norway - must advocate for participation of women, in line with 1325 and/or parallel women's peace negotiations. WILPF Norway and WILPF Switzerland should send a letter to their respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs asking what will be done to follow up the 1325 UNSCR perspective. WILPF Israel should try to raise the issue of the Mosad involvement in Colombia in the Knesset. WILPF Sweden should discuss with the Swedish Embassy in Colombia whether it would be possible for Sweden to support the training - financially as well as technically. WILPF sections should use the Colombia conflict as a case study, not only for 1325 approach but also to see how communism and terrorism are given as reasons for armed conflict, social control, repression and oppression, to cover up the exploitation of natural resources by multinational corporations. WILPF sections should, as human resources permit, link up to the existing Colombia groups in their countries to strengthen and share actions. 10. Listen to the Women for a Change - coordinated by Sidsel Hvaal The International Secretariat has started working on WILPF history in preparation for annual anniversary events. We suggest that all sections visit the history page of our website regularly for inspiration. To mark International Women’s Year 1975, the International President of WILPF, Kay Camp, created a book called Listen to Women for a Change. It featured 50 women working for peace and social justice. To remember our recently passed sister Kay, and the remarkable women she honoured in this publication, we reproduced it for the web. WILPF intends to add new faces and names to this in the coming months to continue honouring women’s work for peace and freedom. The entire project can be found 11. WILPF’s Middle East committee statement An Open Letter to the negotiating parties, the Middle East Quartet and the host government concerning the talks in Annapolis on peace in the Middle East Finally a date is set for the US-sponsored talks on peace in the Middle East, 27 November 2007. The venue will apparently be a naval base in Annapolis, Maryland, but what is the real agenda? The roadmap to peace between Palestine and Israel is known; it was defined decades ago through UN brokered principles and resolutions. The road leads to an independent State of Palestine within the borders delineated by the armistice agreements prior to the 1967 war. The road leads to an end to the Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. Instead of a concrete road to peace, there is an illegal concrete wall. As long as the US government supports, excuses and mandates Israel to erect a wall, and to occupy and “change facts on the ground”, Condoleezza Rice will be incapable of hosting a dialogue among equals or brokering real solutions to the questions of Jerusalem, refugees and right of return, borders, settlements, water and security. Predictions of failure do not help to create a climate of hope, a necessary precondition for successful talks and action. However, if the Bush Administration raises hopes but is still not prepared to raise the pressure on Israel to end the occupation, it risks a dangerous setback for the people of Palestine and Israel, for the region and our world that is increasingly affected by actions taken to protest the injustices suffered by Palestinians. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom calls for: Participation of both Fatah and Hamas in the Annapolis talks, cooperating with Mahmoud Abbas, the Head of the PLO and the elected president of Palestine; Full Israeli withdrawal from all Arab territories occupied since 4 June The promised freeze on settlement construction to be immediately followed by dismantlement of all Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the environs of Jerusalem; Israel’s acceptance of an independent sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital; A just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem in accordance with U.N. General Assembly resolution 194 adopted on 11 December 1949, which guarantees the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes, and for compensation to be paid for the property of those which, under the principles of international law should be compensated by Israel, the responsible government; Lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip and open passage to enable all Palestinian citizens to move in and out, and between Gaza and the West Bank to enable access to commerce, work, medical treatment, and education; Freedom of movement for the Palestinian people, by removing all the checkpoints and closures within the West Bank, and Jerusalem respecting the geographical and political integrity of Palestine; The announced release of some 400 political prisoners prior to the conference to be immediately followed by the unconditional release of all Palestinian political prisoners of conscience, in particular child prisoners; Removal of the Wall erected illegally on Palestinian land and all such further construction, which the ICJ Advisory Opinion states Israel is obliged to do and should make reparation for all damage caused by it; Equitable sharing of the water sources among all countries in the region; Negotiation of a zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction in the region; Discontinuation of the supply of weaponry to any state in the region, instead, human and economic resources should be used for construction of a just and viable peace and through the reconstruction of war-devastated areas; Full participation of women in conflict prevention, resolution, negotiation and democracy building and a gender perspective in protection, repatriation and post-conflict reconstruction. |
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