Canadian Voice of Women for Peace

STATEMENTS & ENDORSEMENTS

Since our humble beginning in 1960, one of our major roles is to monitor war and peace issues both in Canada and abroad. Below you will find the latest letters sent to our Canadian government with the responses we have received. In addition, VOW partners with women's peace groups around the world and together we make statements that are presented to the United Nations.

Statements & Endorsements

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In Support of the Iranian Global Day of Action

JULY 25, 2009

STATEMENT OF THE CANADIAN VOICE OF WOMEN FOR PEACE

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace is a Canada-wide Non Governmental Organization that works for peace and justice in Canada and the world.

We are here to add our voice to that of the international community demanding immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including journalists, students, and civil society activists arrested in the protests following the disputed results of the Iranian June 12th election.

The Iranian government´s brutal response to these protests is a direct assault on the Iranian people´s human and civil rights and those of everyone who supports these ideals around the world.

Our expression of solidarity with the democratic movement of Iranians does not mean support for foreign acts of intervention. We firmly hold that the political fate of Iran must be determined by Iranians and their civil and political rights.

We condemn all those who attempt to advance their own military and corporate interests by exploiting the current turbulent political situation of Iran.

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace provides a means for its members to cooperate with women throughout the world to create the mutual respect and understanding necessary for the peaceful resolution of international conflict. We urge our government to ensure that resolution of this crisis involve women peacemakers in accordance with its obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

As women, we support the full involvement of women in this powerful nonviolent struggle for democracy. We mourn the death of Neda Aghasoltan who was killed while peacefully standing up for her rights, and for the rights of all Iranians. We call for the immediate release of Shadi Sadr, a women lawyer and activist, arrested one week ago.

We stand in solidarity with our sisters in Iran in their struggle for peace, human rights and justice.

Toronto. 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Queen’s Park, north side.

Montreal. 1:30-4:30 PM. St. Catherine intersection, Atwater across AMC Theater.

Calgary. 12 Noon Rally. City Hall.

Halifax. 5:00 PM. Main Entrance, Public Gardens.

Victoria, 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, front lawns. Green Human Chain (please wear green).

Vancouver. 12:00 – 3:00 PM. Vancouver Art Gallery, north side (W. Georgia, between Hornby and Howe).
Statement to the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights

26 October 2009
Janis Alton, Past Chair on behalf of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace

Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to your examination of aspects of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the related resolution 1820. You have particularly asked for comment regarding Canada’s role in strengthening human rights mechanisms, including equality between women and men, in conflict affected areas. On behalf of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, I can offer some comments to your focus on:
1. Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325
2. Participation in relevant UN conflict resolution and peace building mechanisms
3. And departmental programs and initiatives.

I am drawing from our volunteer women’s organization long-standing activism, since its founding in 1960. At our inception, we called for an end to war, not how to make war safe for women, and for women’s rightful inclusion in decision-making at all levels on matters related to peace and security. We still do. Our pioneering activism focused on the abolition of nuclear weapons. Sadly, this continues. As we near our 50th anniversary, our record includes a host of educational and advocacy efforts to address the folly of the military system and the rutted, undemocratic pattern of exclusion of women’s voices from the foreign policy arena. As our understanding of the interconnectedness of issues grew, so did our outreach. When UNESCO coined the phrase, “culture of peace” not so long ago, we had an “Aha!” moment. recognizing in its description a compact way of expressing what we had come to be about with a plethora of activities - from coast to coast & internationally. For example, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, since the 70’s has been an affiliate of the United Nations through the Department of Public Information and, since 1996, with the Economic and Social Council. We have actively used this linkage lobbying extensively at multiple UN Missions for demilitarization in New York, Geneva and Vienna, and at NATO headquarters and that of the Warsaw Pact, among others.

We were very active in the civil society run-up, and adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325.We continue our deep interest in its implementation, and are especially encouraged by the strong language of the preamble which recognizes the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building. It stresses the importance of women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase women’s role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution. Music to our ears!

We thank you for this Senate initiate to prod the implementation of this historic resolution. If even Article 1 were fully implemented, (which calls upon member states to increase representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutional mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict) , this would contribute to the deterrence of rape. Women’s heightened visibility in this area will help build respect for women, help men to stop treating women like trash.

Canada deserves praise for its continuing leadership of the UN-based Friends of 1325, a small but growing number of states seeking ways to promote women and gender sensitivity within the UN system, and its conflict management processes but …. where is the sustained leadership at home? Where is our own national plan of action?

We also applaud Canada’s long standing financial support of the International Women’s Tribune Centre and specifically its international Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. But where is the sustained, adequate financial program of support at home for NGO coalitions such as PeaceBuild (of which Canadian Voice of Women for Peace is a part.) trying to educate and advocate for women’s right to participate? We strongly recommend that equality and peace building NGOs be given sustained and adequate funding to help move along towards women’s equal representation in all aspects of peace building from prevention to conflict resolution. Currently, Canada plans to commit a massive 490 billion to military spending over the next 20 years, continuing to drive the prevailing culture of war.

We ask you to consider whether the adoption of equality practice in all aspects of decision-making related to peace and security and at all levels should be voluntary?
We need women who are peacemakers, who support gender equality, sustainable development, justice, all human rights for all people. There are plenty of creative, progressive voices. It is a moral obligation to move at a faster rate.

Canada should continue to support the presence of progressive women at the decision-making tables for resolution to the conflicts in Afghanistan.

[NOTE: UN SC res. 1325 is international law. Along with Cora Weiss, (NY) President of the Hague Appeal for Peace, we concur that it is time to use it in a court case. If a table is set for a peace agreement and only men are seated, women’s organizations should take them to court and use 1325 in their brief.]

[Story- When women in Northern Ireland went to see George Mitchell, who was chairing the Good Friday Agreement to bring peace to the many years of the Troubles, he told them that to be seated and eligible they would have to represent a political party. So they went out and formed the Women’s Party and got 2 seats at the table. Their presence made a sustained difference. They insisted on institutionalizing human rights in the Agreement.]

We would go further. We have already recommended to personnel within the UN Peacekeeping Unit that peace education be integral to every peace agreement. It could include rewriting text books, holding encounter sessions with educators from all “sides”, having student exchanges and other creative ways to reduce hatred and build reconciliation. Teaching 1325 and 1820 would make a difference.

We recommend that all troop contributing countries sending peacekeepers to zones of violence be trained and TESTED in 1325 and 1820. Sexual abuse by peacekeepers is not uncommon. There are about 120,000 personnel including peacekeepers from 117 countries on 18 UN-led operations on 4 continents directly impacting the lives of millions of people, half of whom are women.

We recommend that not only the military but [Canadian] advisors and negotiators be sensitized to gender issues in conflict to appreciate the importance of implementing 1325and 1820. Other stakeholders in a conflict zone such as police and government personnel should be similarly educated. The specific requirements of girls and women must be addressed. In Canada, the Manley Report supports these demands for Afghanistan.

Canada must encourage the development and reinforcement of women in the role of the judiciary and in government in states recovering from conflict.

We recommend that Canada, and other states provide dedicated funding to these approaches, including general capacity-building for women and girls. .

Ideally, within Canada and elsewhere, every single piece of legislation, every resolution should be screened by legislators at all levels of governance to ask how does this affect women? Are women including in the vetting of the resolution, in the implementation of it?

We recommend that systematic consultations be undertaken by the Department of Foreign Affairs with relevant NGOs begin. The last of these informal consultations was in 2006.

We recommend revival of the specific consultative process implemented in Canada following the adoption of SC res. 1325 which brought together relevant NGOs, civil servants, M.P.s and Senators under joint Senate and MP leadership. This practice of new diplomacy was all too brief. It fizzled for lack of governmental financial support.
Ending the Crisis in Gaza - Building Peace in the Middle East

13 January 2009 - VOW Press Release

The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW), a non-partisan NGO comprised of women from across Canada and around the world, call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. VOW urges all involved parties in the region to come to the peace table without delay.

“Recognizing that the present violence in the region arises from a deep-rooted history of violence begetting violence, we are strongly convinced that a peace process is the only solution and that polarizing the conflict gains nothing. At the same time, the extreme humanitarian crisis which exists and is growing in Gaza demands immediate action now,” says Lyn Adamson, VOW member and professional conflict mediator who has helped train members of a nonviolent civilian peaceforce in Gaza.

An online petition has been released to encourage all concerned Canadians to sign onto the VOW Peace Call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to polarization of the conflict. Click here for the petition.

VOW is calling on the Canadian government to strongly support ongoing demands for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and to use its diplomatic influence to call on all parties to respect humanitarian law, human rights, and the Geneva Conventions. “We especially urge the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs officials to encourage the new Obama administration to use its influence to bring a lasting peace to the Middle East, and to assist in any diplomatic way possible in furthering nonviolence, peacebuilding, and humanitarian approaches in the region,” states Dr. Janet M Eaton, VOW Co-Chair, academic and researcher.

VOW reminds the Canadian government and the UN Security Council to ensure that women, who promote peace, from all parties involved in the Gaza crisis, are at the decision-making table in accordance with Article 1 of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (2000) which “Urges member states to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.”

“We further urge the international community, and especially the United Nations Security Council, to continue to work toward a ceasefire, and to ensure that combatants on both sides of the conflict respect international humanitarian law, human rights and the Geneva Conventions,” says Janis Alton, VOW Co-Chair.

Established in 1960, the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) is a national Non Governmental Organization (NGO) with membership from across the country and around the world with consultative status with the United Nations Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC). VOW is also one of the NGOs cited by UNESCO’s standing committee in the working group report entitled “The Contribution of Women to the Culture of Peace.”

For further information and to set up interviews with peacebuilding experts, please contact Sandra Ruch, Administrative Coordinator, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, via email or phone 416-603-7915.

SIGN THE GAZA PEACE PETITION NOW
GEAR Campaign - UN Gender Equilty Architecture Reform

UN RESOLUTION MOVES GENDER EQUITY ARCHITECTURE DISCUSSION INTO GENERAL UNITE NATIONS ASSEMBLY

15 September 2008 - At a final meeting of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly, member states adopted by consensus a resolution that will officially move forward the gender architecture discussion into the next General Assembly session. This means that states have agreed to take next steps toward strengthening the UN system in relation to gender equality and women’s empowerment. .../more

Endorsed by VOW, this is a monument step towards women's equity for the need to strengthen the United Nations’ institutional mechanisms on gender equality and called for a consolidated women’s entity led by an Under Secretary General and with extensive country presence. READ THE GEAR STATEMENT.