WILPF US Proclamation for the Global Women's March

Photo by Chris Cassell; used by permission of Pro Bono Photo

Proclamation for the Fourth Annual Global Women's March
January 18, 2020

The Global Women’s March is now three years old. This Global Women’s March was not born from celebration but out of protest and of demands for change. What we – and women around the world – are demanding is the right to vote – and to have our votes counted accurately, the right to hold public office, the right to work for equal pay and with safe working conditions, and for our human rights, including an end to discrimination.

Additionally, on a global level and all the more urgently today, we demand the right to bring about change through peaceful, non-violent, participatory action, and to address the political economy of violence.

The world is in a state of almost permanent conflict — declared, unfinished, or imminent. The causes of those wars lie not just in realpolitik and the supposed security of countries, but in economics and the need for resources. It was the lack of economic rights that sparked the uprisings in the Arab States, followed by demands for civil and political rights. These conditions motivate other people’s movements around the world.

WILPF US reasserts these demands! Social, human, and economic rights and justice – without discrimination and based on the recognition of the human rights of all – are central to peace and sustainable development. In the context of the 21st century, globalization, and the worldwide climate crisis, we must use the tools of the international and national systems to bring about these crucial changes.

There is much to be done – from the wars in African countries and in Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan in the Middle East; the instability in the Arab region; and the continuing US threats of war against Iran – to the critical need to address the climate crisis, global recession, and environmental degradation.

January 18, 2020, is indeed a day to recognize what women have accomplished and what has been done so far – and also a time to raise our voices, to protest, and to call on all of us to keep on working for peace!

For January 18, 2020, WILPF US declares this 2020 Proclamation for the Fourth Annual Global Women's March.

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
US President, Darien De Lu
Join us at www.wilpfus.org !

(This proclamation is based on the principles of WILPF US and International WILPF, as well as the International Women's Day 2012 statement “WILPF International's Statement on Celebrating International Women's Day” from 2012 is, on the WILPF US website.)