The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is the oldest continuously active peace organization in the world. Founded in 1915 in opposition to World War I, WILPF was also one of the first NGOs (1945) with consultative status at the United Nations. Our early leadership included Nobel Peace Prize winners Jane Addams and Emily Greene Balch. Today WILPF has sections in 37 countries and branches in 60 U.S. cities.
WILPF is unique in challenging the interconnected threats of a militarized society and economy, violence against women, racial injustice, food and water insecurity, environmental degradation and chemical trespass, and corporate power, through the framework of human rights. Although members of WILPF--women and men--are part of a global network, the organization relies on the grassroots activism of the branches to determine its action priorities. The 2008-2011 Issue Committees include:
At the UN: WILPF's years of advocacy at the institutional and grassroots levels came to fruition in 2010 with the creation of a new division--UN Women--which provides for greater unity, strategy and funding to ensure worldwide gender equity and inclusion.
Water as a Human Right: The UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution recognizing water as a human right, for which the WILPF U.S. Save the Water issue committee has advocated and petitioned for four years.
National Peace Conference in Albany: WILPF took a leadership role in forming the United National Anti-War Coalition, ensuring women's equal participation, and helping to define its agenda of "End the Wars and Occupations: Bring the Dollars Home." A mass mobilization is planned for April 2011.
Move to Amend Campaign: WILPF is a founding partner in the movement to abolish corporate personhood by amending the U.S. Constitution.
Branches: The Des Moines branch produced a Silent Screams, a DVD documentary about drone warfare and ongoing efforts to justify war with Iran; the Minnesota Metro branch produced a touring exhibit, Women and Water Rights: Rivers of Regeneration; the Ashland (Oregon) branch produced a walk-through display, Hiroshima Day (available for loan or replication), designed to educate the public about the horror of nuclear weapons
For more information please visit our events page.
Greg Coleridge and Prof. Bradley A. Smith debate Citizens United, corporate constitutional rights and their effects on our democracy.
Sponsored by The Federalist Society (UT Chapter), UT College of Law, Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Toledo)
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