July 2009
Dear WILPF Members and Friends,

Included in this WILPF International update you will find:

1. Message from the Executive Committee
2. Message from the Secretary General
3. PeaceWomen Update: Civil Society: Taking Steps to Ensure Accountability
4. An update on the Conference on Disarmament (CD) – Adoption of a new programme of work: A step forward
5. Human Rights update
6. WILPF Response to the North Korean Nuclear Weapons
7. WILPF’s 94th  Anniversary
8. UNCTAD – Expert meeting on mainstreaming gender in trade policy
9. New interns at the Geneva Office
10. International Peace Updates (IPU) now online!

As always, we welcome feedback and input to these mailings.  If you have something to contribute to the next mailing, please send it to susi.snyder@wilpf.ch with “For International Update” clearly marked in the subject line.

Past updates are archived on the website at: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/updates/,

Warm greetings,

Susi Snyder

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Update from the Executive Committee
Amparo will go to Mexico in August to provide technical assistance to Mexican women who want to join WILPF and form a core group. 

She sent  the Latin American sections the materials on Diversity and Conflict Resolution developed in the past IB meeting translated in to Spanish so the Spanish speaking sections could also have access to this important information. Also, Amparo is the liaison between Cuban Women's Federation and WILPF. She facilitated the exchange of information between WILPF and the Federation regarding the 11th Human Rights Commission which took place in Geneva, June 2 - 18, 2009.

In the last update Annelise wrote about the project in India, visiting relief camps in Kandhamal in order to find out about the status of women’s rights in the camps. Finally the report has been finalized and it is available on the WILPF website together with some photos.

From the 13th to the 15th of June Susi (the SG) and I were in the Netherlands for meetings with the local committee that is preparing the 100th birthday Congress in 2015. We had very inspiring, fruitful and interesting meetings with some of the enthusiastic members of the Dutch Section of WILPF and we also had a ‘guided tour’ in the Hague to try to find the right place for celebrating WILPF’s 100th birthday. Everything was very well planned and the only thing we needed was time.

Felicity recently attended a particularly busy and well organised Triennial meeting of the Australian section and shared the opening speaking slot with former Australian Ambassador to the UN Penny Wensley.  Speeches available here: http://www.wilpf.org.au/ At this meeting the focus was on protesting the recent government's Defence White Paper which was an absolute shocker involving $AUD 308 billion dollars on a military stimulus package and a reaffirmation of the US nuclear umbrella.  She also attended a demonstration with other WILPF Australia members protesting the presence of U.S. nuclear powered warships and 7,000 US sailors in the port of Fremantle on their way to the Talisman Sabre military exercises involving 30,000 military bozos trampling across pristine wilderness and exposing the Great Barrier Reef to potentially devastating contamination.
In 2009, Almedalen Week celebrated its 40thanniversary. It was 40 years since that former prime minister Olof Palme spoke from the back of a lorry at Kruttornet, Almedalen. The political speeches of the early years have developed into Sweden’s biggest political meeting place.

Kerstin and WILPF Sweden participated in “Säkerhetspolitiskt sommartorg” - an arena for daily discussions and seminars on security politics. In excess of arranging several seminars such as “Kosovo-reality check” on the implementation of 1325 in EU civil crisis management and “Global warming or nuclear winter – security threats today and tomorrow” Kirsti Kolthoff, Swedish WILPF President, and Kerstin Grebäck WILPF International President, participated as appreciated speakers in several panels.

Nancy continues to monitor the financial situation of international WILPF and to spread the word about our fragile financial status and to encourage donations.   She is finishing up  her third and final year as Co-Chair of the US Boston Branch of WILPF which recently offered a workshop on Racial Justice and also hosted a US WILPF Board Meeting and Open House.  She will be attending a 4-day WILPF regional workshop in July at the Vermont farm of WILPFer Robin Lloyd. Nancy continues to do mediations in the Courts as well as privately for divorces, parent-child cases and elder and family cases.  She also enjoys teaching peer mediation workshops in local schools and teaching the young people that the peaceful resolution of conflict is an important step toward world peace. 

Samira has been actively engaged with the Lebanese ministry of culture in its celebratory cultural activities for "Beirut World Book Capital 2009", touring various public libraries in the different Lebanese regions advocating Peace & justice & human rights Education/ Books for children.
Additionally she chaired the session on Palestinian Educational & Cultural Strategy in the forum held in Beirut by the Palestinian Higher Council for Education, Culture & Science, celebrating "Jerusalem the Arab cultural Capital, 2009".

Executive Committee members can be reached at their WILPF email addresses, which are firstname.lastname@wilpf.ch. 


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Message from the Secretary General

The summer has begun in Geneva, and the hot and sticky office is brimming with a new team of interns to help the secretariat function.  This summer we’re focusing on raising money for the next International Board meeting (schedule to take place in India in January 2010). We’re also looking at ways to address issues of military spending as they relate to the promotion and protection of human rights.  See the human rights update below for more information on upcoming meetings and recent events in the human rights field.

With the kind help of a Swedish volunteer, we’re upgrading and redesigning the WILPF website- so keep checking to see not only what’s new with WILPF, but also our new look.  It is hoped that the new site will be fully functional and launched before the end of August.  One of the great things that we’re looking to do is to set up spaces for WILPF national sections to post their information and keep it updated themselves.

If you’re on facebook, WILPF now has a page you can become a fan of.  After launching the page, within just a few days more than 200 people became fans.  Thanks to the recommendation of our communications committee chairperson, C.J. Minster, we’ve been working through this and other web 2.0 technology to increase WILPF’s visibility.  In addition, WILPF has also launched a twitter account- so you can follow what’s up with WILPF by checking http://twitter.com/WILPF_Geneva .  Remember, you can also follow what’s happening in the international office in New York following: http://twitter.com/WILPFUNO .  This is a great way to get little bites of information about issues of concern to WILPF at the United Nations, with links to more info when and where you want it.

WILPF is unique in the perseverance and patience of our members.  We need more like you!  It is through our members that WILPF gains credibility and clout with international decision makers.  If you have not asked at least one person to join WILPF this year now is the time to do it!  Each one of us can reach one more, each one can encourage one to join.  Some people are afraid to ask their friends and family to join WILPF, but if you believe in this organization share that belief.  You’ll be surprised at how many others may share your same vision, at how many others are interested in supporting it.  Each and every week we are growing, and we must grow if we are going to make it to our 100th anniversary.  Reach out and ask someone today, join WILPF.

With warm regards from the Geneva office,

Susi Snyder

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PeaceWomen Update: Civil Society: Taking Steps to Ensure Accountability
Sam Cook

The question is often asked: “What is being done to ensure accountability for the implementation of Resolutions 1325 and 1820?” There is no easy answer to this question. In this edition of the PeaceWomen E-News we highlight the efforts of women, peace and security advocates in the NGO sector who are working to ensure better accountability in very concrete ways. This edition’s news section (Item 2) reveals the ongoing need to address the interests and needs of women in conflict. Sexual violence continues almost unabated and women are still struggling to have their voices heard in the halls of power. These stories also reveal that there are many areas of activity and progress and many “implementation” efforts being pursued. And it is the case that much progress has been made in the years since Resolution 1325 was adopted. But, trying to get an idea of the overall state of implementation, even within the UN system itself, is an almost impossible task. There is an impression of uncoordinated and ad hoc (albeit positive) action. A first step towards ensuring accountability is ensuring that information on implementation efforts is easily available; that these efforts are coordinated and strategic; and that their results are tracked. As we move through the final months of this session of the General Assembly, we hope to see significant progress made by governments towards finally establishing a new UN entity for women that would go some way towards improving this situation. Although establishing such an entity is an essential step, it does not go all the way to ensuring that governments and the UN itself meet their commitments to women – such as those expressed in Resolutions 1325 and 1820. The real question becomes, “what happens when these commitments are not met?” Of course women are negatively impacted. But for decision-makers and the bearers of the obligations in 1325 and 1820, the consequences of non-implementation are almost non-existent.

Civil Society plays a vital role in the drive to bring the consequences for non-implementation back to those in power. An important part of this is ensuring that women’s voices and the issues women face are brought forward. For many years the mainstream media has almost entirely ignored news on women, peace and security issues. This has begun to change and the recently launched IPS Gender Wire - seen in our Feature Initiatives section (Item 5) - is a significant step forward. Another laudable initiative featured here is The Physicians for Human Rights Blog: Darfur Women Speak – that seeks to bring to the fore the voices of Darfuri women living in the Farchana Refugee Camp in eastern Chad.

Information on the issues faced by women is, however, only one of the ways in which civil society is working to ensure accountability. Our NGOWG Update (Item 7) highlights a recent panel presenting information on sexual violence in conflict and its perpetrators. This event included an useful discussion on how this information can be used in ways that move forward the implementation of Resolutions 1325 and 1820.

The GAPS Global Monitoring Checklist on Women Peace and Security in our Feature Resources section (Item 4) tackles the problem of implementation of 1325 head on. This resource – to which WILPF contributed – provides information on women, peace and security issues in country-specific situations as well as tools to drive implementation. It is hoped that women peace and security advocates use this tool to demand accountability by governments and member states. It is vital to let these actors know that civil-society is watching, keeping track and responding.

The need for civil society to play this watchdog role is nowhere more clear than in our Feature Letter (Item 3) from Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice and supported by 65 NGOS in the eastern DRC. This letter to the UN Secretary-General is a reminder of the need for peace talks and related agreements – especially those sponsored by the UN – to comply with Resolutions 1325 and 1820. Firstly, women must be included in peace processes. In addition, every part of these agreements – from amnesty provisions to the integration of former militia in national military and police forces – must take into account the interests and needs of women. It is not enough that there is agreement on this in the abstract or when making statements in UN meetings. Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice rightly criticizes the recent peace agreement between the government of the DRC and the CNDP for failing to live up to the commitments in those resolutions. It is in the context of actual agreements, when the experiences and interests of real women are at stake that these commitments matter. Rhetoric is just that if nobody bothers to think about and push for these things before putting signing a peace agreement that brings anything but peace for women.

It is hoped that at some point the UN and governments themselves will consistently and systematically ensure that peace processes, peace agreements and related processes and mechanisms comply with international law – including Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820. Civil society monitoring should not be treated as an easy substitute for formal systems of accountability – but for now its what we have and must be supported.

This editorial was originally published in PeaceWomen E-news 108.  For the complete edition, please click here.

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An update on the Conference on Disarmament (CD) - Adoption of a new programme of work: A slow step forward
Based on Ray Acheson’s Reaching Critical Will CD Reports

On Friday, 29 May, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) adopted a programme of work for the first time in ten years. Before the decision was called, a few delegations spoke about the proposed programme of work, CD/1863, including Ukraine, Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Morocco. The current president of the CD, Ambassador Jazaïry of Algeria, took the floor to see if there were any objections to its adoption—there were none, so the gavel came down and the room burst into applause. After the adoption, a great number of delegations delivered interventions, voicing their support for the programme of work. Two, India and Pakistan, elaborated their positions on negotiating a fissile materials treaty.

CD/1864 differs from the proposals put forward in 2008 and 2007 and aims at establishing working groups on the four cores issues- nuclear disarmament, prevention of an arms race in outer space, negative security assurances and a fissile materials (cutoff) treaty and special coordinators on the other three agenda items: radiological weapons, a comprehensive programme for disarmament and, transparency in armaments.  The fissile materials working group has been given a mandate to “negotiate a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, on the basis of the document CD/1299 of 24 March 1995 and the mandate contained therein.”

Since the adoption of the programme of work the sessions of the Conference on Disarmament has been focused on how to it should be implemented. The current proposal is for Working Group 1, nuclear disarmament, to be chaired by Indonesia; Working Group 2 on a fissile materials treaty, chaired by Switzerland; Working Group 3 on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer space, chaired by Brazil, Working Group 4 on Negative Security Assurances chaired by the Ukraine.  The current proposal also has Zimbabwe as the special coordinator for radiological weapons, Mexico as special coordinator on a comprehensive programme of disarmament, and Finland as special coordinator on transparency in armaments. There is also a proposal about how time should be allocated during the last session of the CD this year, with an even allocation for each working group. 

Now is the time to contact foreign ministries and parliaments and demand they support:
the current proposal for Working Group and Special Coordinators
a resolution in the General Assembly First Committee calling on the CD to immediately adopt a programme of work in the 2010 session and commence negotiations on a fissile materials treaty to be completed no later than 2011.

The current CD president, Ambassador Millar of Australia, said she would undertake intensive consultations with delegations during the CD’s summer break to try to reach consensus on the implementation of the programme of work.

To read the statements from the Conference on Disarmament, click here.
To learn more about the Conference on Disarmament please read the “Reaching Critical Will’s Guide to the Conference on Disarmament”.

NGO Statements heard in the Council Chambre

After years and months of intensive advocacy for better NGO access to the Conference on Disarmament (CD), on 28 May an NGO panel presented to an informal session of the CD.  WILPF was one of the four NGOs who took the floor, and WILPF SG Susi Snyder presented a statement drafted in conjunction with WILPF’s Reaching Critical Will Project Director Ray Acheson.  The statement can be found here.  Other speakers were Dr. Rebecca Johnson, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, Mr. Ben Baseley-Walker, Secure World Foundation, Dr. Gustav Lindstrom, Geneva Centre for Security Policy and Dr. Fred Tanner, Geneva Centre for Security Policy. 

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Human Rights update

Dear all,

Much has happened the last few months in the Human Rights field. This update covers events since March. If there are certain items that you want specific information on, please contact me at rights@wilpf.ch. 

In peace,
Ilse Wermink

In this update you will find information on the:

• 10th Human Rights Council Session [March]
• Durban Review Conference [April]
• 5th Universal Periodic Review [May]
• UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza [May]
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [May]
• 11th Special Session Human Rights Council [May]
• 11th Human Rights Council Session [June]
• Meeting Special Procedure Mandate Holders [June]
• Coming months [July, August & September]
• Deadlines NGO information

• 10th Human Rights Council Session

2-27 March 2009

As introduced in the first HR News Update of this year: WILPF attended and reported on the 10th Human Rights Council session. Please click on the following links to read the reports on those items which were covered during this session:

Prior to the 10th HRC session WILPF had prepared and circulated a written statement on possible measures to eliminate wartime rape. During the session, multiple oral statements were read out in the Council on behalf of WILPF. These were focused on the Right to Water, Right to Food, Right to Development and the Human Rights situation in Gaza.

• Durban Review Conference

20 – 24 April 2009

In 2001 a goal setting Conference was held in Durban (South Africa) on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Eight years later these goals were evaluated in Geneva in the Durban Review Conference. The Conference started with a controversial statement by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, which led to an orchestrated walk out of (mostly European) Diplomats.

Prior to the actual Review Conference WILPF was one of the co-conveners of the Civil Society Forum, which was held from 17 until 19 April. Around 400 civil society representatives gathered and discussed different issues. A group of committed participants worked until the early hours of Monday on a meaningful statement on which all participants would agree and could work with back home. This statement strongly welcomes the Durban Review Conference and called on all Nations to support the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. If you would like to read more on the Durban Review Conference, please click here.

• 5th Universal Periodic Review

6, 7 & 8 May 2009

During the fifth UPR session, WILPF attended the meetings on those Countries with WILPF Sections or Groups: the Democratic Republic of Congo, New Zealand and Chile. The meetings on New Zealand and Chile received more attention than the one on the DRC, but it was good to see that Treaty Body members attended the UPR session on the DRC. Please click on the following reports to learn more:

If you would like to read more on the Universal Periodic Review, please have a look at the website www.upr-info.org or click here to learn more on WILPF’s role within the UPR.

• UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza

7 May 2009

During the 10th Human Rights Council session, the President installed an international independent UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza with the Mandate: “to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed at any time in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, whether before, during or after”. This Mandate was based on the adopted Resolution following the 9th HRC Special Session.

WILPF attended the meeting between the members of the UN Fact Finding Mission and NGO representatives, where around 30 NGOs were represented, amongst which those based in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Richard Goldstone – the head of the Mission – emphasized that all violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law will be looked into. In WILPF’s statement the organization was introduced to the Fact Finding Mission and requested their specific attention for the impact of the attacks on women and girls. Upon this request especially member Dr. Christine Chinkin reacted enthusiastically and ensured that this was high up on the agenda. Please click here to learn more about the Mission’s call for information.

• Committee on Social, Economic and Social Rights

5, 6, 12 & 13 May 2009

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is one of the UN Treaty Bodies. It monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which entered into force in 1976. The CESCR is made up out of 18 experts, who meet twice a year for three weeks at a time.

WILPF attended and reported on the sessions which were held for Australia (5 & 6 May) and the United Kingdom (12 & 13 May). To read the reports and to find out more about the CESCR, please click here.

• 11th Special Session of the HRC on Sri Lanka
  

26 & 27 May 2009

After months of lobbying by NGOs, the Human Rights Council convened a Special Session on the situation in Sri Lanka, following the call by 17 members of the Council: Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mauritius, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uruguay, and the United Kingdom.

The 11th Special Session was held just a week before the regular HRC session, mostly due to a cessation of the fighting in Sri Lanka. WILPF’s written statement was one out of only four statements which were handed out amongst all Delegations, NHRIs, NGOs and press present at the start of the session. In addition, WILPF addressed the Council to propose changes to the Draft Resolution and pushed for, amongst others: greater access for humanitarian organisations and full participation of women in the peace building process, by urging that Security Council Resolution 1325 and 1820 be added to the Resolution text.

The adopted Resolution is very weak, as a strong consensual outcome was not possible despite serious efforts by many States. Sri Lanka kept on refusing to accept any proposals made to its own resolution text and the EU therefore tabled nine amendments. For the first time, the Council was faced with a no-action motion proposed by Cuba to suspend debate and action on these amendments. The Council proceeded to vote on the no action motion was won by 22 in favour, 7 abstentions and 17 against, dismissing the amendments as a result. This underlines the need for WILPF’s work in supporting the UN in its work.

• 11th Human Rights Council Session

2-19 June 2009

During the 11th HRC session there was a focus on women’s rights and the Special Procedure on Violence Against Women. WILPF focused on attending the following meetings and will report on these swiftly:

In addition, WILPF attended the informal meetings organized by Canada on the HRC Decision on the new mandate for the Special Rapporteur on VAW – currently Yakin Ertürk – and side-events organized to celebrate the 15 year existence of the Mandate. Please click here, if you want to read the review of the impact of the Mandate so far. To push for further recognition and follow-up for Security Council Resolution 1820, WILPF addressed the Council and distributed a written statement. 

• Meeting Special Procedures Mandate Holders

30th June 2009

Every year the Special Procedure Mandate Holders convene for three days to discuss overarching issues. Part of these three days is a meeting with NGOs, in which input is requested. WILPF was present in this meeting and took the floor to address the Mandate holders on three issues:
1) To introduce the concept of “you get what you pay for”: in which disarmament could free sufficient financial means to realistically ensure the fulfilment of all human rights.
2) Specifically thanked Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, for her great efforts over the last 6 years and the way in which the 15 year Mandate was celebrated and reviewed. On the other hand WILPF expressed its disappointment in the new Mandate, as it lacked language linking SCR 1325 and 1820 into the reporting for CEDAW and the UPR.
3) To request information on the progress made by the UN Fact Finding Mission for Gaza.

• Upcoming months

July, August and September

In the coming months WILPF will be attending the following meetings and report on these:

Human Rights Committee (14 & 15 July):
WILPF will attend the meeting of the Human Rights Committee mid July on the Netherlands, during their 96th Session. The Committee will monitor the adherence of the Netherlands to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR). Please click here to read the Dutch State report and information provided by NGOs.

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (12 & 13 August):
During the 74th CERD Session, WILPF will attend the review of Colombia mid August. During this review I will pay most attention to questions and answers regarding the discrimination of Indigenous and internally displaced women. To read Colombia’s State Report and the NGO reports, please follow this link.

12th Human Rights Council Session (14 September until 2nd October):
The 12th Session of the Human Rights Council will start mid September. Currently the agenda is not yet known. As usual, WILPF will follow those Items on the agenda which are relevant to WILPF or to one of its Sections or Groups. The reports can be found after the Session on the WILPF website. 

If there are other human rights meetings or activities coming up in these months, please inform me by emailing me at rights@wilpf.ch. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, please feel free to use rights@wilpf.ch to bring me up to date or suggest a focus for following these meetings.

• Deadlines NGO Information 

All Human Rights Treaty Bodies and the Universal Periodic Review invite NGOs to inform its Members on the situation in the Country under review. Please check the following timetable to see when you can provide information concerning your Country. Please click on the link to get information about the specific procedure:

Until the next Human Rights News Update!

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WILPF Response to the North Korean Nuclear Weapons

26 May 2009
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is deeply concerned by and condemns the nuclear weapon test conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at GMT 0054 on 25 May 2009.  This test shows the urgent need for the rapid entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and a powerful shift from security strategies relying on nuclear weapons to those predicated on collective human security.  

If the CTBT were in force, an on-site inspection could quickly determine whether the seismic event recorded in the DPRK was indeed a nuclear explosion and if so, its precise characteristics. The Treaty would also give greater legitimacy to international responses. The Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Tibor Tóth, has deplored the DPRK’s action as “a serious violation of the norm established by the [CTBT] and as such deserves universal condemnation.” If the Treaty were in force, its member states could adopt sanctions against the DPRK for violating international law. Currently, the task of coordinating an international response falls to the UN Security Council, a body not entitled to enforce international norms per se, but an unrepresentative political body dominated by the interests of its five permanent, veto-wielding members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The UN Security Council has issued a presidential statement and is currently preparing another resolution, following on Resolution 1718, which was issued after the first DPRK test in October 2006. Yet two of the permanent Security Council members, China and the United States, have not yet ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.  WILPF calls on all states outside the CTBT- China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, United States, India, Pakistan and the DPRK - to sign and ratify without delay or conditions and to make unilateral declarations of their commitments to a nuclear weapon test moratorium until national level processes for ratification are complete.
_ _ _
While the DPRK communiqué stated that this test would “contribute to safeguard the sovereignty of the country,” WILPF recognizes that the only true way to contributing to anyone’s safety and sovereignty is to move from a unilateral and isolationist security paradigm to one of cooperative and collective human security.   
This is an extract. To read the whole WILPF Response to the North Korean Nuclear Weapons, click here.

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WILPF’s 94 Anniversary

On the 28th of April it was once again time to celebrate the birthday of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. This year the organization turned 94, leaving only six more years until the 100 year Anniversary.

Statement for WILPF’s 94th Anniversary, 28 April 2009:
On 28 April 1915 while war raged in Europe, over one thousand women from a diversity of cultures and languages came together to study, make known and eliminate the causes of war. 
The organisation they formed, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom continues to assert the right and the responsibility of women to participate in decision-making on all aspects of peace and security.
Celebrating its 94 year history on 28 April, the organisation continues to empower women and work towards the elimination of war, racism, discrimination and violation of women’s rights. WILPF women have contributed with other non-governmental organisations to see human rights recognised and codified, landmines banned, and an end to apartheid in South Africa, detailed in an exhibition being launched around the world as part of the festivities.  

While WILPF has witnessed progress over its 94 years, we live in a tense world of increasing military expenditure, of increasing investment in war, and still using war.  Gaza and the West Bank are occupied, burn and bleed, the violence in Democratic Republic of Congo continues, on and on, deaths in Afghanistan go on and on and the burkhaas in Afghanistan stay on and on.  The killing in Iraq continues, on and on, and so does the corporate welfare of Halliburton, Parsons Corp, Bechtel to name but a few of the profiteers in Iraq who have perfected organised crime.   

While words such as ‘security’ and ‘terrorism’ are manipulated to leverage a reduction in civil and political rights, and the draining of human and financial resources from delivering economic, social and cultural rights and security for all, three interlocking crises are faced: climate change, peak oil and an economic depression.
Military security concepts and weapons profiteers bear enormous responsibility in killing our planet, impoverishing its people and changing our climate.  The US Pentagon is the biggest single user of oil in the world (320,000 barrels per day), and generates 750 million tons of toxic waste per year.

While more people become impoverished, governments are wasting enormous resources on weapons and preparation for war.  During a so-called financial crisis, governments are spending 1339 billion, the equivalent of 600 years of the UN’s budget, on military. Bombs, guns and landmines cannot be eaten, will not hinder a Tsunami, a hurricane, a flood, a virus, or a water shortage.  These are our real security threats.  We can face and address them, but only if we organize, cooperate and put the human and economic resources currently going into weapons and war into human needs.


Pour la version en français, cliquez sur svp ici.

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UNCTAD – Expert meeting on mainstreaming gender in trade policy

UNCTAD
On 10-11 March 2009 in Geneva, UNCTAD held an expert meeting on mainstreaming gender in trade policy. UNCTAD members together with invited experts discussed gender issues and trade policies from a gender perspective. During the meeting issues including using the term “gender-neutrality” when establishing new trade policies were addressed, and it was acknowledged that this concept did not take into consideration how women and men are affected in different ways by globalization and trade liberalization.

The term “gender mainstreaming” was also discussed and participants concluded that this is not the best term to use. It is easy to state that we are gender mainstreaming but we have to ask ourselves how we really are doing this. Is it gender mainstreaming to write the word “women” into documents and then just count how many times women are mentioned? The conclusion was that we have to have more in depth gender analysis to make sure that gender issues really are taken into consideration. It should be gender action plans in national action plans. National action plans are not only about trade but trade should also respond to concerned gender issues, and governments are accountable for that.

Furthermore, it was confirmed that more gender analysis is needed in the area of trade especially in the light of the economical crisis the world is currently facing. One example of the relevance of gender analysis is the fact that the economic crisis is spreading to the service sector where there are mostly women and it is also estimated that the majority of the world’s migrant workers are women. This in turn means that now because of the financial crisis many of them will have to return to their home countries and the countries have to be prepared for this to be able to absorb them back in the economical system.   
    
Strategies
The issues in what way trade are affecting women positively versus negatively and how to implement effectively polices to face this that came up during the meeting.  One of the most pressing concerns was the importance of bringing new gender awareness at all policy levels. To be able to do this the most discussed strategy was to establish a gender disaggregated database. The idea is to take all the “players” in trade into consideration, in other words also acknowledging women’s contribution to trade and to the countries Gross Domestic Product. By doing this new patterns in trade will be revealed and better policies can be adopted for those at the ground level.
There was also an urge to get more gender analysis in general regarding countries infrastructure. For example when we are building a bridge we have to ask ourselves, who will use this bridge? Will women and men use it differently? At different times? For different purposes? If men are driving cars over the bridge and women are walking how much money and time would it cost for us to put up a railing and maybe some lighting? And how many lives would that save?
It also came up a request to offer more “gender education” to government staff and staff working in the field. If we are asking for an expert to explain gender it is relevant that this “expert” have had a sufficient gender education beforehand to understand for instance what gender gaps really are. We also have to take into consideration that many persons, how sadly it might be, don’t know what gender is and that hiring a woman does not guarantee hiring a gender expert.
The outcome of the meeting was a full and thorough recognition of the need to promote gender analysis and skip gender mainstreaming. It was suggested that women organizations can work as informed advocacies in this policy process. CEDAW was put forward as a leading example in the development of trade gender tools. Furthermore, more reliable data is needed and gender disaggregated statistics are especially important. There should also exist an intergenerational discussion in the exchange of ideas. We will have to wait and see if UNCTAD can rearrange some of their resources to put more time and effort into these gender issues and by that promote more productive results.  

Sofia Ek
March 25 2009

More information:
UNCTAD www.unctad.org/
UNCTAD – (Expert meeting on mainstreaming gender in trade policy) http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&lang=1&m=16435&year=2009&month=3

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New interns at the Geneva Office

During the last couple of weeks three new interns has joined the team at the Geneva headquarters; Elin Hagberg, Dagmar Hölscher and Helena Fransson.

The team currently exists of:

• Susi Snyder - Secretary General
• Ilse Wermink - 2009 Annual Human Rights Intern
• Elin Hagberg - Economic Justice and Fundraising Intern
• Dagmar Hölscher - Events and Communication Intern
• Helena Fransson - Disarmament Intern

A bit of information about the new Interns:

Economic Justice and Fundraising Intern
Elin Hagberg - Intern
justice(at)wilpf.ch

Elin Hagberg is originally from Nyköping in Sweden. Her University years were spent in Växjö where she studied Peace and Development at Växjö University and from which she took her Master Degree in June 2009. Her interest in development and peace awoke when she during high school participated in a study trip to Tanzania. Since then she has found herself returning to the African continent several times for work and research, foremost in Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Morocco. During these periods she has also found herself more and more interested in gender issues and her bachelor thesis was written within this area. During her years of study she has also been active in the Swedish United Nations Association and in the Africagroups of Sweden. During her internship with WILPF in Geneva Elin wishes to gain a better understanding of the international debate, the UN system and international organisations.

Events and Communication Intern
Dagmar Hölscher- Intern
Secretariat(at)wilpf.ch

Dagmar Hölscher will be an intern at the WILPF Geneva office for three months. She studies Comparative and European Law at the University of Bremen in Germany. In the course of her studies Dagmar was an exchange student at the University of Geneva for the academic year 2008/2009 and obtained the Certificate of Transnational Law. Dagmar participated in an eleven-months-long voluntary service with a German peace-building organization in the US where she lived in a residential community for people with mental disabilities together with other volunteers from all over the world. During this time Dagmar became convinced that international understanding and a peaceful world is possible - but it is still something the people have to fight for.

Disarmament Intern
Helena Fransson – Summer Intern
disarm(at)wilpf.ch

Helena Fransson is WILPF’s Summer Intern for 2009 and will spend six exiting weeks at the Geneva Office as the Disarmament Intern. She grew up in the southern parts of Sweden and is currently living in Växjö where she is studying Peace and Development at Bachelor level. Her main interests concern women’s and children’s rights especially in connection to development and equality issues and Helena is an active member of Save the Children. Her great interest in this field has been present since she was very young and has strongly grown over the years due to for example participation in a shorter exchange with students from South Africa during her time in upper secondary school. She is confident that her stay at WILPF will fuel her interest concerning these issues further and will contribute to many new and interesting experiences. After her internship at WILPF Helena will continue with her studies and will also in the autumn of 2009 conduct a Minor Field Study in Tanzania concerning the work of the Vi Agroforestry Programme. In the future Helena sees herself to continue working with issues regarding the rights of women and children as well as development.  

Internships have provided a path to participation in WILPF and also to later jobs with NGOs, academic think tanks, intergovernmental agencies and governments. Internships in the Geneva office are open to young women who wish to learn more about the work of our organisation. For more information about the internships, click here.

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International Peace Updates (IPU)

During the last month (June 2009) the 74th volume of International Peace Updates (IPU) has been published. The International Peace Update is a regular WILPF publication that is now available on WILPF’s webpage.

The 74th volume contains a number of interesting articles on topics of interest for WILPF-members as well as non-members of the organisation.

This volume’s leading theme “Looking back, learning and moving forward” concerns the history as well as the future of WILPF. It looks back on the history of the organisation, discusses what has been learned over the years and looks at how WILPF is moving forward.

The 74th volume - Table of Contents:

Looking back, learning, moving forward
Editorial: WILPF – moving towards the future …………………………………………………....3
Looking back, learning, moving forward ………………………………………………………..... 4

United Nations
Save the UN Charter / Say No to NATO ……………………………………………………….....6
Changing threat perceptions in the Middle East, International Women’s Day: Statement
to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva 5 March 2009……………………………............7   
Durban Review Conference: Ending racism ………………………………………....................8
Global financial crisis …………………………………………………………….........................9
Conference on disarmament ……………………………………………………………………....10
Rejoining the NGO Working Group on the Security Council …………………………………...11

Political and economic justice
Political solution: Occupation must end …………………………………………………………..12
Children of Gaza: ‘Victims of victims’ ……………………………………………………………..13
Congolese women: Participation is a priority ………………….............................................14
Voices of African women ……………………………………………………………………..........16
Migrant workers in Costa Rica …………………………………………………………………......17

Building for the future
Y-WILPF taking steps to leadership roles ………………………………………………………..18
‘Peace, yes please!’ education project …………………………………………………………....19

To read the 74th volume of the International Peace Updates as a printer friendly PDF, click here.
To read earlier editions of the International Peace Update, click here.

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