We demand that Russia cease its invasion of Ukraine, and that all sides enforce a cease fire, including NATO countries and other countries preparing to send weapons to Ukraine.
In this extremely volatile situation, we in WILPF are reminded of our foremothers, who, in 1915, responding to the breakdown of security systems between nations and the onset of World War I, joined together with women from opposing sides to demand mediation of the conflict.
Now we do so again. The situation in Ukraine and on the international scene shows us that, once again, war cannot and will never be a solution for peace and stability. In these times, the most sensible thing we in WILPF can do is to build international solidarity – to come together and channel all our individual voices into one collective, loud and decisive voice that calls for an end to militarization and war-mongering.
We in WILPF know that the people will suffer, as they always do, when the so-called great global powers wage war. This is intolerable. During a recent meeting of the UN Security Council, discussing the Russia – Ukraine situation, Martin Kimani, the Ambassador from Kenya, recounted an African saying:
“Our internal divisions and fragilities were weaponized on the altar of geopolitical rivalry. It confirmed the truth of the African saying that recognizes when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
We deplore the impacts of militarism that degrade the environment in numerous ways, affect women and children disproportionally (including an increase in domestic violence) and trample widely on human rights.
We in our WILPF US Section recognize that the NATO expansion, begun in the late 1990s, was essential to the US scheme for a “unipolar” world. NATO expansion is contributing to the crisis today, starkly contrasting with Mikhail Gorbachev’s vision for the demilitarization of “a common house of Europe”, made safe for human rights.