Local to Global

What is the WILPF’s Local to Global (L2G) approach?

For 100 years, WILPF has been bringing women together to work for a world free from violence and armed conflict. One of the things that makes WILPF really unique is our local-global-local approach.

We consider our major strength to be our linkages between international, national and local efforts, something we call the Cycle of Unified Action. In this process, information and recommendations from women peace activists are brought to multilateral fora by the International Secretariat who, at the same time, brings information and analysis of what is happening internationally to the WILPF national sections and partners on the ground so they can influence the local level.

What does WILPF do around the L2G Project?

At WILPF we believe that lasting change can happen when women ‘speak truth to power.’ WILPF’s Local to Global approach coordinates and bridges the gap between global policy with local implementation by amplifying the voices of women’s rights advocates including WILPF’s women’s right activists in global decision-making. We facilitate delegations from different WILPF national sections to New York around these two main events especially:

• The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in March; 

• The Geneva Convening on Women's Meaningful Participation; and

• The Anniversary of UNSCR 1325 in October.

Using the opportunity that these events provide, WILPF organises open events with advocates from local contexts to global fora to amplify the voices of women peace makers and connect the dots between the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, disarmament and human rights.

Furthermore, we create closed spaces for our grassroots delegates to share experiences, good practices and their own cases; to build strong networks; to design cooperation strategies; to discuss challenges; and to build in the WILPF movement. We also support the delegates in coordinating bilateral meetings with relevant country UN missions or UN special mandates and agencies.