Skip to main content

No women no peace: women's power to stop war



Women’s Power to Stop War (1915-2015) is an exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery from 21 February to 31 May 2015 sponsored by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

This year – 2015 – marks 100 years of the founding of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the oldest international women’s peace movement in the world.

On April 28, 1915, 1200 women gathered at The Hague for the International Congress of Women. They were from both peaceful and conflicted countries. The peace activists had a vision to eliminate the causes of war and conflict. The resolutions they passed at that Congress were the basis for the formation of the League of Nations and later the United Nations.

A century on, the League still aims to banish militarism and build institutions dedicated to peace and freedom. The League is active in 30 countries, with a New York United Nations office, and its international secretariat based in Geneva.

The Australian branch continues to campaign against the arms trade, for an independent foreign policy for Australia, to redefine security in terms of human need, decrease military budgets, and increase development aid. The League campaigns to support education for peace and human rights, non-violent conflict resolution, peace studies, and peace research. Their peace activism includes support for First Nations peoples' claims for land rights and self-determination.

Women’s Power to Stop War focuses on all activities that supported peace and freedom over 100 years with items from private collections and Canberra community groups. It includes World War I diaries and scrapbooks, photographs, period costumes, banners, placards, flags, and campaign badges.

In April 2015 women from all over the world will gather again in The Hague, in a WILPF-led international movement, to promote women’s unique powers to stop and prevent wars and conflicts, and to establish the necessary foundation for permanent and durable peace. Australian women will be part of this movement.


www.wilpf.org.au or www.wilpfinternational.org or www.womenstopwar.org








MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...
2 comments
Read more