Who Governs Water? Exploring the 5-Day Schedule of our 35th Virtual Triennial Congress

By the 35th Triennial Congress Program Committee

May 2024

The WILPF US 35th Triennial Congress will take place from Wednesday, May 29 to Sunday, June 2, with late-afternoon presentations and plenaries each evening, and two all-day sessions on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2. Our virtual presenters will address the critical questions about water: Who has it? Who doesn’t? Who controls it? How do we use it? Who governs water?

Take a Look at the 5-day Schedule

Daytime and evening presentations, presentations by our issue committees, featured speakers, panels, reports by members and branches on climate and water where they live, films, poetry and songs, early bird and night owl social time, and more on the Congress theme of ‘Water on the Frontlines for Peace’!

Here is the link to the schedule. Times are given in Eastern Daylight Time

Here are a few samples flowing your way:

• The evening of May 30, we welcome Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation. He is responsible for country visits to report on implementation of the human right to water and sanitation: UN Sustainable Development Goal #6.  
• On Sunday, June 2, we will hear Osprey Orielle Lake, founder and executive director of the Women’s Earth & Climate Action Network, International, discuss her new book, “The Story is in Our Bones: How World Views and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis”.  
• Mazim Qumsiyeh and Rabbi Arik Ascherman will speak about past and current water crises between Israel and Palestine, where now in Gaza and the West Bank the water infrastructure is destroyed — as it is in Ukraine and other conflict and war-torn areas. 
• Rickey Gard Diamond exposes how the wealthy speculate in water investments, while Mary Grant documents the billions of dollars needed to invest in our public water infrastructure. If you think nuclear energy is the key to ending oil and gas production, Kelly Lundeen explains that nuclear energy is not green, but the flip-side of nuclear power, and Timmon Wallis and Vicki Elson, co-founders of NuclearBan.US, will expand on ‘From Warheads to Windmills’. Tamara Lorincz, from WILPF Canada and WILPF International’s Environment Working Group, will speak on ‘Navigating Toward Peace: Overcoming the Militarization and Climate Crisis of our Oceans’. 
• During this Congress, the critical water safety, security and access issues will be discussed as we face crises in the US and worldwide. Marcela Olivera, Water Commons organizer in Bolivia and Latin America and citizen reporter on water around the world, will provide that broad perspective.
• Women of the Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging (R.I.S.E.) Coalition will speak about creating a world where indigenous people have a voice and place to lead their own path.
• Climate collapse, increasing militarism, water infrastructure breakdowns and disinvestment in public water systems, as well as racist policies have harmed the most vulnerable from the local to global communities. Our beautiful WILPF community will gather to strengthen our connections, share our advocacy strategies, and build our capacity for action – together! Pathways for agency, advocacy and action over the next years will guide our work for Water on the Frontlines for Peace.

Save these dates for our 35th virtual Triennial Congress: Wednesday, May 29 to Sunday, June 2, with late-afternoon presentations and plenaries each evening, and two all-day sessions on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2.

Register now for the full Congress at $55.00 or for one or more days. (Please note that the registration link above goes to the rate for non-members and after May 15. Qualifying members received a special registration link for the lower member-only rate.) 

Sponsorships by individuals and branches are welcome. We invite our members and your family and friends and the organization folk who you work with to join in this 109th year of standing up and speaking out.