The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom is the oldest and largest women’s peace organization in the world. It was founded in April 1915, in the Hague, the Netherlands, by some 1300 women from Europe and North America. These women came together from countries at war against each other and neutral ones, and held a Congress of Women to protest the killing and destruction of the war then raging in Europe. This congress led to WILPF's formation.
WILPF works for world disarmament, full rights for women, racial and economic justice and an end to all forms of violence.
Wherever you go, WILPF is there – on the streets, in the halls of Congress, at the UN and cities, and in towns and campuses across the country.
The New York Metropolitan Branch of WILPF actually predates the international organization, having begun as the Women's Peace Party in 1914. The Peace Party then became part of WILPF when the international organization was founded at The Hague in 1915.
Our work is made manifest through monthly Peace Potlucks, regular newsletters, and our actions on the street--most notably, The Raging Grannies and Their Daughters. WILPF's strength as an organization is that we constantly make the connections between militarism, racism, classism, sexism, ageism, homophobia and human rights.
Our three major campaigns link these issues:
--Challenging Corporate Power: Asserting the People's Rights
--Uniting for Racial Justice: Truth, Reparations, Restoration and Reconciliation
--Disarm! Dismantling the War Economy
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In addition to these major campaigns, WILPF is proud of its involvement in the birthing of two national campaigns, Not In Our Name and Campaign For A National Health Plan NOW!
Not In Our Name In March 2002, individuals from different organizations, backgrounds, communities and political perspectives met together at St. Mary's Church in Harlem, NYC, to discuss what was needed to build resistance to the U.S. government's "war on terrorism" launched in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. From this meeting the Not In Our Name project was born.. www.notinourname.net
Campaign For A National Health Plan NOW! A lay group working together with Physicians for a National Health Program, The United Steelworkers of America and The United Methodist Church--as well as other major labor unions and members of the faith-based community--to secure a system of comprehensive national healthcare for everybody in the United States. Go to the website and sign the petition. www.cnhpNOW.org