Monthly Archives: March 2012

2012 AGM & Seminar Report Back

WILPF members at the Annual General Meeting and Seminar.

On Saturday, March 17th, UK WILPF had its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Seminar on the Universal Periodic Review. Dr. Rebecca Johnson, keynote seminar speaker, spoke movingly of the plight of the Jeju islanders whose world heritage homeland is being devastated to make way for another base foe nuclear armed craft close to China. She suggested that everyone present contacted the Save Jeju Island Campaign and to write personally to Ban Ki Moon to ask why he is allowing such devastation.

WILPF members from across the UK attended the events at the Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre in London, taking steps to further the campaign initiatives as well as the structure and strength of the organisation making WILPF even more efficient and effective in creating social change in 2012.

Raised Voices and Honorary Friend Award Reception

Raised Voices sang Jeremy Corbyn, MP into the esteemed position of "Honorary Friend."

Raising Voices sang Jeremy Corbyn, MP into the esteemed position of “Honorary Friend.”

 

 

Prior to the seminar, Raised Voices sang a series of political songs, ranging from women’s suffrage, labour unions, racial justice, and anti-nuclear issues.

 

 

 

Corbyn proudly displays his Honorary Friend Award from WILPF and his new coffee mug!

 

 

 

Jeremy Corbyn, MP of North Islington, received his Honorary Friend of WILPF Award in recognition of his long term support of WILPF and commitment to peace and social justice.

 

 

Seminar on the Universal Periodic Review

The Universal Periodic Review, as defined by the United Nations, “is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years.” This year, in 2012, the United Kingdom is up for review.

Dr. Johnson’s presentation included graphic images to show the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of even a small nuclear detonation.

 

This seminar was an opportunity for WILPF members, friends and supporters to learn about the WILPF’s consultative status to the UN from keynote speaker Dr. Rebecca Johnson to ensure the voices of women are heard and the state’s obligation to protect all from harm is implemented.

 

 

Dr. Rebecca Johnson is the Vice Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) Vice President, and the Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy.

International Women’s Day Statement

The UK Section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom express solidarity with like-minded women’s organisations that are, more than ever, defending women’s rights, questioning inequality in all its forms and working to challenge the continued and unacceptable culture of violence against women in the UK.

Since 1915 WILPF has been the only international women’s organisation with peace as its focus. We continue to study the root causes of war and conflict and seek to expose and learn from the intersections of economic injustice, racism, sexism and other individual, organisational and governmental oppressive practice which only deepens human insecurity.

In the UK, in line with our international programme in almost 40 countries worldwide, WILPF is determined to challenge militarism and argue for a fundamental shift to a peace economy. This is why we express solidarity with UK women working against:

  • Government cuts and the denigration of women’s services and the disproportionate effect of these cuts on women. It is not acceptable to invest public funds in nuclear weapons and systems (Trident) when elsewhere on the spectrum of violence, that against women manifests in the home whilst public funding to eradicate it is critically reduced. 
  • The proliferation of small arms and light weapons in UK homes and communities and demand that UN Security Council Resolution 1325 is observed and used to ensure women are integral to discussion and decision making on strategies to address this conflict in our country.
  • Sex trafficking and the increased commodification of women’s bodies and we take this matter to the UN in our demands for UN Peacekeepers to be held to account for any participation or connection with illegal trafficking of women.
  • the Arms Trade in particular the hypocrisy of arms sales to countries such as Libya given our ‘responsibility to protect’.

These are all matters we shall highlight at the UK Universal Periodic Review to be heard at the United Nations in Geneva in June.