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Founded
in 1915, WILPF empowers women to work for peace and justice in every Australian
state and territory, and in 45 countries around the world. WILPF women
stand for...
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Political
solutions to international conflicts
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Disarmament
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The
promotion of women to full and equal participation in all society's
activities
- Respect for fundamental human rights and the right to development in a sustainable environment
- Economic
justice within and among states
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Elimination
of racism and all forms of discrimination.
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Submission to
the Federal Government’s
Northern Territory Emergency Response Review
submission
Appendix1-transcript of interview with consultant
Appendix 2 - Why Warriors Lie Down and Die_- executive summary
SInging for Peace
Workshop
Around the whole country, planning is well underway
for our protest actions against the big arms expo, called the Asia
Pacific Defence and Security Exhibition (APDSE) which is due to run
in Adelaide from 11 to 13 November this year.
Read a report on the first of the singing protest workshops in
the lead-up to APDSE which was held on Saturday 16 August at the
Quaker Meeting House, 40A Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide. Read
full report and get song files
You can join the
web group and download mp3 to learn the songs in your town or organisation.
Australia sells guns and war
toys on Armistice Day instead of Poppies
In November this year, an arms fair called the Asia
Pacific Defence and Security Exhibition (APDSE) will be held in
Adelaide, South Australia. Inappropriately, it is due to open on
Remembrance Day (Tuesday 11 November), and runs over three days,
finishing on Thursday 13 November. read
more and get leaflet to share
Statement prepared by the Australian Section of Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Statement by the Australian Section of the Women’s
International League
for Peace and Freedom, 28 April to 9 May 2008
presented at celebrations of the 93rd anniversary of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom, 23 April 2008, Canberra
of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
WILPF Letters to Australian
Government Members on the Occasion of their first day
WILPF welcomes the incoming Rudd Government. WILPF
welcomes the new government's apology to the stolen generations
and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol - both moves were long
overdue.
The first meeting of Australia's 42nd Parliament on Tuesday, 12th February
2008 is time of great hope for the Australian people.
WILPF has observed that, over the past eleven and a half years, much
has been lost in Australia.
We believe that during the Howard years, Australia has moved towards
becoming a less community-oriented, less caring and less egalitarian
society. The Australian ethos of the fair go has waned. We have seen
a far greater emphasis on militarism through increased annual joint training
exercises with the United States and other nations, especially at Shoalwater
Bay in Queensland. At the same time, there has been a noticeable increase
in nationalism, jingoism and the 'glorification of war' through a changed
attitude to the commemorations of Anzac Day and Australia Day.
We have also observed that successive Federal budgets over the time of
the Howard Government significantly increased defence expenditure compared
with spending on education, health and welfare. This disproportionate
spending on defence did not serve the needs of all Australians for real
security - which cannot be bought through military might or military
alliances - and certainly does not well serve the needs of Australian
women. The situation for Australian women has deteriorated during the
last eleven years.
We recall the great hopes of people in the United Kingdom when the UK
Government of Prime Minister Tony Blair was first elected in 1997. Now
eleven years later, we in Australia have elected a new Labor Government.
While we recognise that there is a limit to what reformist governments
are capable of in a capitalist society, we nevertheless hope that our
new government will not break faith with the Australian people. With
this in mind, we have written to some of the new Ministry expressing
our hopes for a fairer Australia.
Claire
Moore Jenny Macklin Penny
Wong Tanya
Plibersek
Peter Garrett Attorney
General McClelland Joel
Fitzgibbon Stephen Smith
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WILPF
initiatives
Help
this exhibition reach every Australian town and city.
Show the true impact of war -
the hope and compassion of human beings -
the importance of standing up for what we know is just.
These photos touch hearts and minds in powerful ways.
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WILPF Statement on Situation in Burma
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
sends greetings, solidarity and support to citizens of Burma, who
courageously and non-violently stand up for peace and freedom in
their country.
A reign of terror has prevailed in Burma since 1962, the population
being brutally repressed by a military dictatorship; women have suffered
in terrible and specific ways.
The international community has tolerated this military junta far too
long. Its silence has protected a culpable economic exploitation by
actors who must be made to cease their profiteering and deal-making
with the regime, currently headed by General Than Shwe. The current
culture of impunity must come to an end, and those who have committed
grave violations of international humanitarian law must be justly prosecuted.
WILPF calls on all Member States of the United Nations to:
Refuse the credentials of the Myanmar delegation to the 62nd UN General
Assembly, recalling the precedent of the GA's refusal to recognise
the apartheid regime as representative of South Africa's population
on 13 November 1970 in Resolution 2636;
Utilize the current meeting of the Human Rights Council to re-establish
the Special Procedure on Myanmar and call for implementation of
the recommendations of Special Rappoteur Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
(Brazil);
Consider the reports of the Special Rappoteurs on Myanmar and call
on the Burmese Regime to allow them access to the country for the first
time since 2003;
Demand that UN humanitarian actors be given access to provide needed
assistance to the estimated 500,000 internally displaced persons;
Demand that Aung Sung Sui Kyi be released from house arrest and permitted
to exercise her political and human rights and freely enter the UN
house;
Exert pressure on the Than Shwe military regime that it respect
the peaceful demonstrations for democracy currently taking place
in Burma; and
Call on the military regime to engage in immediate talks with the democracy
leaders, who maintain a long-held position of non-violence and support
for dialogue and negotiation.
The terror and profiteering in Burma must end - the time for decisive
action is now.
24 September 2007
Susi Snyder, Secretary General
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
1, rue de Varembe, Case Postale 28, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 919 7080 Fax: +41 22 919 7081 www.wilpf.ch
WILPF Australian
Section Annual Report 2006 pdf
WILPF Quarterly Magazine "Peace and Freedom" currrent
issue (1.3MB)
Dear Minister,
Re: Federal Government’s Intervention
in Indigenous Communities in the Northern Territory
We write on behalf of the Australian Section of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Since our founding
in 1915, WILPF has worked for social and racial justice, human
rights, the environment and an end to war as a means of dealing
with human conflicts.
We are in complete agreement with the Federal Government on the
need for urgent action against child sexual abuse in indigenous
communities in the Northern Territory (NT). It is indeed as the
Anderson/Wild report concluded a “national emergency”.
WILPF therefore welcomes the Federal Government’s willingness
to grapple with these difficult issues.
We must also note however that a similar degree of child sexual
abuse exists in other parts of the Australian community and, while
addressing the problems in the NT, it is important to guard against
further stereotyping of indigenous Australians as if to say that
their communities are in some way unique in regard to child sex
abuse or domestic violence. They are not. Anything that appears
to suggest this is dangerous as it adds fuel to the fire of racism
that is prevalent in our society and makes real progress in addressing
indigenous disadvantage so difficult. ..........
click
here for full letter in pdf format
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1325
is a powerful UN resolution that focuses on the effect of war on
women and the need for their involvement in conflict prevention,
peace building and post-conflict reconstruction. 1325 has the status
of international law. Visit WILPF's action site for Australian
women working to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution
1325 in the Australian context.
(PS.
To return to this site, use your browser back button)
WILPF
(Australia) endorses the Paid Maternity Leave campaign of the
National Foundation for Australian Women.
WILPF (Australia) encourages organisations and individuals to sign
on to this important campaign. Sign-ons can now be made on line at:
http://www.nfaw.org/social/maternity/index.html
This year, in
April 2007, these wonderful women of wilpf have contributed 92
years to working for peace. Think they'll give up now? No way!!
So why not join them? Be part of a glorious sisterhood creating
a peaceful and just future for all human beings and our environment.
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STATEMENT
BY WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM
on the Lebanon/ Israel conflict
(AUSTRALIAN SECTION)
There never can be a military "solution" to the problems facing
the Israeli and the Lebanese peoples in the present situation across
their common border. The peoples involved or, more precisely, their
representatives need to be brought to the recognition that they
must seek a political solution - a negotiated "talking" solution
- if they are ever to achieve a just and lasting peace and freedom. Click
Here for full Statement
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