April 2015 E-New: The WILPF's Power To Stop War Movement

The WILPF's Women's Power to Stop War Movement: What Power?

By Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo, President of WILPF Cameroon

For so long, the world has been shaken by crises and devastating conflicts which make violence a way of life in many countries. Responses to these conflicts have been military––tackling violence using violence. This approach creates more harm, and muzzles and maintains hatred among victims, the majority of whom are women.  The lasting solution to this increased violence and militarization is no doubt the women's peace movement without which the world is bound to chaos. Indeed, there is no development without peace and no peace can be constructed without key women strategic players and gender justice. WILPF hadslong understood this, and for 100 years has been building this important movement of women's power to stop war.

How can WILPF successfully bring together women from all around the world around this exciting mission? WILPF Cameroon group’s existence today is a true testimony to WILPF’s vision and current relevance. To recall, its story started in 2012 in Istanbul-Turkey during the AWID forum where I got in touch with WILPF by visiting their stand and attending some of their sessions and was greatly impressed by the work WILPF was doing all over the world on peace building and most especially by the data provided on militarism, peacekeeping operations, arms expenses by countries which was disproportional to efforts on human rights in general and women’s rights in particular, just to name a few. I got to clearly make the link between women’s rights and arms proliferation and was astonished to see how countries secured huge budgets on getting arms at the detriment of other sectors including women’s human rights. I felt compelled to ensure Cameroonian women got involved in this global quest for social justice, considering that the country was faced with increased regional security challenges, the influx of refugees into the northern and eastern parts of the country and the urgent need to focus on peace building, demilitarization and women’s rights.

Since then, WILPF Cameroon’s group women have proudly embraced WILPF's vision of building a world free of violence. Since its establishment in January 2014, through numerous actions on the field, they have reinforced the desire of many other women and youth at different levels to promote peace in their environment. They are gradually educating majority of Cameroonian to stop taking peace initiatives for granted. To eliminate the culture of denial that still persists today in Cameroon, WILPF Cameroon group has embarked on popularizing UNSCR 1325 and advocating for a National Action Plan in Cameroon, and has embarked in a series of advocacy visits with some government ministries and some international organizations to advocate for the need to make the WPS agenda part of the solution. Although still a new group, WILPF Cameroon group has helped set up WILPF’s Chad’s Group and advised many women from other countries wishing to set up WILPF’s groups in their countries including Ivory Coast, Mali and Benin. Considering this and given the continuing increased regional security challenges, considering that arms proliferation is fuelling the conflicts in Cameroon and in neighboring countries, it is of utmost importance that WILPF Cameroon group becomes a WILPF’s section. This will enable us have a greater mobilization force since we will be in direct connection with WILPF international office and other WILPF sections and will definitely contribute to strengthening conflict prevention and increasing women’s role and participation in Cameroon more specifically and in the sub region as a whole.

There is strong need to expand the movement in all the continents and most importantly empower women to make peace happen. I strongly believe in hard work and commitment for WILPF members to make the desired change. I strongly believe that peace is a way of life and that we should try and portray the change that we want to see in this world. As Mahatma Ghandhi rightly put it, WILPF members should try and be the change they want to see in this world by developing inner peace, which lays the foundation for building sustainable peace. Peace should definitely become a culture, a way of life and an individual commitment for each WILPF member.

Building movements through connections, networking and mentorship is key thus the need to increase regional and inter regional cooperation among WILPF’s sections for greater impact. These are tools that must be used to impact change around us.

Let’s keep in mind the principles of nonviolence of Martin Luther King, one of them stating that “nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people’’ as evildoers are also victims in most cases.

See you in The Hague!