GPPlatform

The heart of WILPF's work from its founding almost 90 years ago to the present is to study and make known the roots of conflicts and wars and to strive for their eradication. It is to help build a society without war, one in which there will be economic and social justice, respect of all human rights of women, men, children and the rights of every living thing; a society in which every person participates fully in decision-making. Our task is to help construct this necessary foundation upon which a durable peace can be achieved. We remain united in achieving that goal in spite of the turbulent times history has brought us through and today challenges us in unprecedented ways. We are challenged by the violence in our societies and the increasing number and the intensity of national and regional conflicts in all parts of the world. We are challenged by the erosion of human values that gave birth to the United Nations Charter and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international standards and laws. We are challenged by the marginalisation of the United Nations and the return to unilateralism where a powerful state and a few allies impose their economic and political doctrines and military rule on others, by force if needed. We are challenged by the powerful transnational corporations' control of resources and the economic and social policies of nations to amass profits for their shareholders at the cost of meeting citizens' needs. We are challenged by the dangers the new weaponry and military strategies represent to all humanity and the environment. As has so often been said, these dangerous developments are not inevitable. They are the results of decisions and the work of human beings. They can be stopped and reoriented by human beings. To do this many are needed, and many the world over are joining in accomplishing this enormous task. We will do our part in this dynamic world movement as we have always done. We are politically diverse, culturally rich, financially strained. We are women from the North and from the South, from the colonised and from the colonising countries, from war-torn countries and from countries that make war. We are united in rejecting racism and discrimination of every kind, in rejecting economic injustice, violence and every form of oppression. And we are united in our efforts to help dismantle the presently prevailing culture of militarism and to construct a culture of peace. Our immediate challenge is to implement a program of work that informs, educates, advocates, builds trust, is supportive of efforts of other organisations and of the United Nations. This is a program to reach out to others to join us in our great endeavour to build a permanent peace based on justice and freedom for all. How do we frame our work, our program and actions, so that it makes sense to all of us in WILPF, in the first place? How can we make the international program organic, that is, able to take on a significant meaning and direction for each of us in the context of our daily lives, in our regional, national and international political work? For WILPF as an organisation to grow, to be visible and to have an influence on micro and macro policies in our very interconnected world requires our activities at the local and national levels to be also very interconnected. The challenge is for us to work out specific short and longer term activities within an overall framework of the agreed program on which every section will work in its own local context, all contributing integrally to the whole international effort.