Help us Promote Our Passion for Peace

At times of great global crises women often take the lead.

It is our passion for peace that compels us—WILPF U.S., branches and YOU, to take the lead—the courageous steps—to build the way to a compassionate future. We are writing you today to ask you to continue to support our collective endeavors.

As our 100th anniversary approaches, WILPF members are inspired by the steps our founding members took at The Hague in 1915 to design a culture of peace to prevent future wars. We are proud that two of our members, Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch received the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in the cause of world peace. Our work today builds directly on their legacy.

This spring, we challenged the U.S. Department of State to come up with a National Action Plan that would implement the true spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls on nations around the world to involve women in all stages of peacemaking and peacekeeping. Were you involved in one of the consultations with women that took place in five US cities?  WILPF’s leadership on issues of women, peace and security is critical because we are the only civil society organization to explicitly articulate the connections between belligerence in foreign affairs and gender inequality in domestic affairs. It’s imperative that WILPF voices promoting the human security approach continue to be heard on Capitol Hill.

Or perhaps you attended one of the local talks with Sameena Nazir, president of WILPF Pakistan, to learn more about the effects of U.S.-sponsored drone warfare on the civilian population of that country. At the end of her tour, Sameena delivered her message to a national audience via webinar, building international solidarity for the Pakistani movement resisting these attacks and, back at home, along with other members of the Pakistan WILPF section, hosted a delegation of U.S. activists en route to join a peace march in Waziristan.

Your gifts sustain a passion for peace, despite shifts in the political climate.

As a founding member of the Move to Amend (MTA) coalition, WILPF created the means for quickly building a powerful grassroots movement in response to the Supreme Court’s misguided ruling in favor of Citizen’s United. The seminal research and analysis of WILPF women served as a lens enabling activists to formulate resolutions promoting a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood. Across the country, WILPF branches built awareness around the issue, staging dozens of events and providing speaking opportunities for MTA spokesperson David Cobb. As electoral politics heated up, “Corporations are not people” became a popular rallying cry in key senate races. With your support WILPF will publish an updated version of our Corporate Personhood Study Guide and re-package parts of the guide as interactive modules on the web.

A gift today will sow a passion for peace in future generations.

Donations of $200.00 or more may receive a copy of Catia Confortini’s new book,

Intelligent Compassion: Feminist Critical Methodology in the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

To donate online, click here or mail donations to:

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

11 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116

In collaboration with WILPF’s Reaching Critical Will project and the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, members of our Washington D.C. branch used a WILPF mini-grant to launch a major campaign to end U.S. use of weapons containing depleted uranium. As you know, DU munitions generate a fine dust inhaled by civilians and soldiers alike. Intact munitions or fragments slowly break down, contaminating soils and groundwater, causing cancer and birth defects in the civilian populations.

This year, in partnership with the Science and Environmental Health Network, our Earth Democracy Committee initiated a national campaign to promote the conceptual framework of guardianship of future generations, as a means of protecting the commons of nature from further incursions of corporate interests. The campaign included events in seven cities across California and Ohio. In 2013 trained committee members will present programs throughout California to create local task forces committed to implementing the “Precautionary Principle” at the community level as one tool to implement guardianship and protection of public health and the environment, carry out an inventory of the local commons, and appoint a local “guardian” of the commons. The goal is to build grassroots support for progressive legislation at the state level. 

The volunteerism of our members needs all the support that money can buy: materials, travel, communications technology. This year, both the WILPF U.S. and WILPF International websites were totally redesigned and WILPF’s International Secretariat launched a new monthly e-newsletter.  WILPF delegations had an impact on the outcomes of meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Arms Trade Treaty negotiations at the United Nations in New York. WILPF speakers have made important contributions to the national meetings of Veterans for Peace and the United National Anti-War Coalition. Through our internal minigrant program, we’ve been able to produce and distribute reports, DVDs, voter’s guides and much, much more. 

As you can see, your gift to WILPF goes a long way. This coming year we hope to effectively challenge corporations like Monsanto, initiate and promote state legislation that recognizes clean water as a human right, build multilateral and cross-sector support for a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East, ramp up our advocacy on behalf of a comprehensive test ban treaty and continue taking direct action to prevent further missile testing by the U.S. government. 

These national projects, inspired by our issue committees, cost money. We rely on your response to this annual appeal to help us expand our voice and reach new members.

Thank you for your gifts in the past and your passion for peace. That is what sustains us.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Robin Lloyd, Chair of Development Committee