Women's International League for Peace & Freedom
The Women's International League for Peace & Freedom is an affiliate of United for Peace and Justice based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was founded in 1915 during World War I. Jane Addams was its first president. Reaching Critical Will is a project of Women's International League for Peace & Freedom.
About
Laurie Belton is the WILPF Director of Operations and Theta Pavis is the WILPF Peace and Freedom editor.[1]
The WILPF publishes Peace and Freedom Magazine.[2]
The League has also operated out of a Washington legislative office formerly shared with Women Strike for Peace. It has cooperated in WPC and WIDF projects to such an extent that WILPF last year was made a WPC affiliate. WILPF has a tax-exempt "educational" arm, the Jane Adams Peace Association. WILPF leaders include Yvonne Logan, president; Libby Frank, executive director and Betsy Sweet, program director.
The heavy-handed pro-Soviet stance of many WILPF activists includes participation in the WPC and USPC by Disarmament Coordinator Katherine Camp; frequent sponsorship of exchange visits with the Soviet Women's Committee; and a call for a campaign against "anti-Sovietism" in the media-defined as any suggestion that the USSR may be responsible for the arms race or pose a threat to the United States. WILPF's "star" petition campaign utilizes an old WPC slogan, "Stop the Arms Race."[3]
Mission
WILPF claims it aims to promote peace through:
- "world disarmament, full rights for women, racial and economic justice, an end to all forms of violence, and to establish those political, social, and psychological conditions which can assure peace, freedom, and justice for all."[4]
Women & War: World BEYOND War’s 2024 Virtual Film Festival
From the World Beyond War website announcing the "Women & War: World BEYOND War’s 2024 Virtual Film Festival":[5]
Day 3: Discussion of "Power on Patrol" on Saturday, March 23 at 3:00pm-4:00pm Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-4)
Panelists:
- Oswaldo Montoya, Networks Associate, MenEngage Alliance: Oswaldo Montoya is a social justice educator. His childhood in Nicaragua unfolded amidst the violent events of Somoza's dictatorship, the Sandinista revolution, and the subsequent U.S.-imposed war against the government of the 1980s. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the Nicaraguan Men's Association Against Violence. Montoya is the author of the influential book "Nadando Contra Corriente" or "Swimming Against the Current," which explores men's roles in promoting gender equality within intimate relationships. His dedication to this cause led him to serve as the first Global Coordinator of the MenEngage Alliance. Currently, Montoya plays a pivotal role in MenEngage's initiatives for men's accountability to women's rights movements. Simultaneously, he supports nonviolent activists challenging authoritarianism in the Global Majority (or Global South).
- Reem Abbas, Communications Coordinator for Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom: Reem Abbas is the Communications Coordinator for the Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace Programme at the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She is also a feminist activist from Sudan.
- Hareer Hashim, Programme Manager, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Afghanistan section: Hareer Hashim is a young Afghan advocate who works as Programme Manager for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Afghanistan section. Hareer’s work includes coordinating WILPF’s Countering Militarised Masculinities: Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace project in Afghanistan, which is building alliances between women peace builders and men who work for gender equality. Hareer graduated with honours from the American University in Dubai (AUD) majoring in international relations with a certificate in Middle Eastern studies. Hareer has also supported organisational development in Noor Education and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO) and Afghan Women for Peace and Freedom Organization (AWPFO).
- Guy Feugap (moderator), Africa Organizer, World BEYOND War: Guy Feugap is Africa Organizer for World BEYOND War. He is a secondary school teacher, writer, and peace activist, based in Cameroon. He has long worked to educate youths for peace and non-violence. His work has put young girls in particular at the heart of crisis resolution and awareness raising on several issues in their communities. He joined WILPF (Women's International League for Peace & Freedom) in 2014 and founded the Cameroon Chapter of World BEYOND War in 2020.
National Board
The following are members of the WILPF National Board, as of March 18, 2010:[6]
- Nancy Munger, Co-President (Cape Cod)
- Laura Roskos, Co-President (Cape Cod)
- Deb Garretson, Secretary (Southern Indiana)
- Ellen Schwartz, Treasurer (Sacramento, CA)
- Carol Urner, Program Committee Co-Chair (Portland, OR/Los Angeles, CA)
- Georgia Pinkel, Program Committee Co-Chair (Portland, OR)
- Mary Zepernick, Personnel Committee Chair (Cape Cod, MA)
- Pat O'Brien, Nominating Committee Chair (Boston, MA)
Ex-Officio Members
- Ann Chalmers Pendell, Jane Addams Peace Association Board President (At Large/Utah/JAPA)
- Audley Green, International Board Representative (Boston, MA)
United for Peace and Justice
WILPF is affiliated with the United for Peace and Justice.[7]