Statements by RCW
WILPF statement to the second preparatory meeting of the Fifth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)
This statement was delivered at the second preparatory meetings for the Fifth Conference of States Parties (CSP5) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on 5 April 2019. WILPF would like to start by extending its appreciation to Ambassador Karklins for leadership on advancing this thematic focus within the context of the ATT. We know it isn’t easy, and that in this room, whether it is said or not, there are those who are not convinced of the importance, utility, or value of doing so, or don’t see any connection between “gender” and the international arms trade. Yet, the fact remains that one of the agreed purposes of this Treaty is to reduce human suffering. We know that women, men, boys, girls, and others each suffer differently from armed violence and conflict. We know that gender-based violence is the most prevalent form of violence in the world. Therefore, any effort to reduce human suffering done in a way that is gender blind, will inevitably fall short of that purpose. The fact also...
WILPF statement to the first informal preparatory committee for the Fifth Conference of States Parties (CSP5) to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) welcomes the decision to focus CSP5 on gender and arms-related gender-based violence. As an organization that has long been at the forefront of feminist advocacy for disarmament, WILPF spearheaded the “Make it Binding” campaign that led to the inclusion of gender-based violence (GBV) in the Arms Trade Treaty. We believe this is an important opportunity to ensure that gendered considerations are at the heart of arms control and disarmament efforts. We encourage states parties to approach this opportunity with ambition, but also with a view to action-oriented outcomes that will have a real impact on practice. An important first step in that direction is diversifying the inputs to our discussions. This means consulting with gender specialists, civil society experts, non-binary people, and crucially, those who have experienced arms-related GBV particularly in local contexts. Such people should be included on...
Presentation on gender, weapons, and power: the importance of feminism for disarmament
The following is a presentation delivered by Reaching Critical Will’s Director, Ray Acheson, at an event hosted by the London School of Economics' Centre for Women, Peace and Security on "Women and Weapons" on 13 December 2018. The audio of the full panel event is available on Soundcloud. Today, I want to talk about the concept of violence, and how weapons and violence, and the interrelation of these two things, are so highly gendered, and how this impedes disarmament. I want to talk beyond the participation of women in disarmament processes. I want to get into gender dynamics and gender norms, and how these can affect how we operate in disarmament processes—what we’re allowed to say, what seems credible, and what kind of policy decisions we can therefore take. Just a caveat: when I’m talking about gender, I’m not talking about all men this, or all women that. I’m talking about gender norms, about how we’re expected to behave as men and women, and how any kind of other...
Civil society statement on cyber and human security to the 2018 First Committee
The following statement was delivered by Allison Pytlak, Manager of the Reaching Critical Will programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, at the 2018 UNGA First Committee in New York on 18 October 2018. The word “cyber” has come to represent an ever-widening spectrum of activities and concerns. Many of these have the ability to negatively impact, disable, or destroy vital physical infrastructure or national or human security. Cyber operations have become an effective tool for states seeking to disrupt or exercise power, and a primary method for the conduct of espionage. This year at the First Committee, states will decide the mechanism through which they will work collectively to address many of these threats. It appears likely that agreement will be reached on creating a new Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on the issue. Over the course of the General Debate, we have heard strong calls of support for reviving either this, or another, entity, yet...
Civil society statement on gender to 2018 First Committee
The following statement was delivered by Gabriella Irsten of WILPF Sweden, at the 2018 UNGA First Committee in New York on 18 October 2018. The negative impacts of patriarchy on our society are on full display when it comes to weapons, war, and militarism. The dominant discourse on these subjects tends to reinforce the highly problematic gendered norm that men are violent and powerful and women are vulnerable and need to be protected. Challenging these norms is an important aspect of our work in First Committee, where we must promote the norm that disarmament is a process of strength, rationality, and justice. That peace and nonviolence are credible objectives. That we can work collectively to achieve security through disarmament and restrictions on the use of force and violence. Recently, some disarmament forums have taken up the task to highlight the importance of gender diversity and the inclusion of women in their processes. • The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of...
ICAN statement to the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
The following statement was delivered by Ray Acheson, Director of the Reaching Critical Will programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and representative on the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), to the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in New York on 26 September 2018. I’m speaking today on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. With 532 partner organisations in 103 countries, we are a truly global movement. We were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for our work with governments to bring to fruition the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. We’re speaking here today as a voice of passion and persistence in the quest to make our world more secure, more just, and more equitable. For us, abolishing nuclear weapons is about preventing violence and promoting peace. Some say this is a dream, that we live in a time...
WILPF statement to the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonmous Weapon Systems
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom has just concluded its 32nd International Congress in Accra, Ghana. While there, WILPF’s African Sections held a meeting on autonomous weapons. They recognised that while their countries may not be the ones to develop and use these technologies, their countries will become the battlegrounds for the testing and deployment of killer robots, the same as they have become for armed drones. These activists know that it will be the rich countries using these weapons against the poor—and the rich within countries using it against their own poor, through policing and internal oppression. Throughout WILPF’s 103-year history, we have seen that weapons symbolise power. Whether it is small arms or atomic bombs, weapons have been developed and used to dominate others. We also know that the production and proliferation of weapons means profits for corporations and their leaders. The potential development of autonomous weapon systems...
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Presentation on gender norms and gun violence
The following is a presentation delivered by Reaching Critical Will’s Director, Ray Acheson, at a side event hosted by the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) on 26 June 2018 on the margins of the Third Review Conference of the UN Programme of Action on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. The event launched IANSA’s “Call to Action on Gender and Small Arms and Light Weapons,” to which WILPF contributed. A note about gender: when I refer to gender throughout this presentation, I am not talking about biological sex. I am not talking about male and female bodies. I am talking about the socially constructed expectations and norms about how we are supposed to perform as women and as men. Yesterday, at another side event, my colleague from WILPF Colombia said, “Weapons still symbolise power. In order to change legislation, we must first change this perception.” Changing this perception requires gender analysis, because more than anything else, the...
WILPF statement to the 2018 NPT PrepCom
The following statement was delivered by Allison Pytlak, Manager of the Reaching Critical Will programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, at the 2018 NPT Preparatory Committee in Geneva on 25 April 2018. Our statement today will cover two distinct yet equally important issues. The first is the expansion, development, or “modernisation” of nuclear arsenals. Such programmes are not just about increasing the safety and security of nuclear weapon systems, as is what is often claimed. In many cases, the “upgrades” provide entirely new capabilities to the weapon system. As one state party noted during the general debate, the confluence between new technologies and traditional deterrence approaches presents a potentially “disastrous mix”. Let’s consider a few examples, taken from the 2018 edition of Assuring destruction forever, published last week and available on our website.1 China’s modernisation programme is adding significant new capabilities to its...
WILPF statement to the UN Group of Governmental Experts on autonomous weapons
The following statement was delivered by Sylvie Ndongmo, Director of WILPF Cameroon, at the Group of Governmental Experts meeting on autonomous weapons in Geneva on 13 April 2018. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom is a member of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Many of you many know us by the name of our disarmament programme, Reaching Critical Will. As a campaign member, we are in solidarity the points raised by the Campaign in its statement. Independent from that however, we have over the last four and a half days, been listening closely to the statements made in the room including in order to provide monitoring and analysis, such as through our publication, the CCW Report. In the course of listening, it has become evident that that there is strong convergence and preference among states to move forward toward new international law, and to do so by the end of this year. In our view, that law should be a prohibition and ensure the principles of human...
WILPF Statement on the adoption of the 2017 Universal Periodic Review of the United Kingdom in regards to its arms transfers to Saudi Arabia
The following statement was submitted by WILPF during the adoption of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Kingdom during the Human Rights Council's 36th session (11 to 29 September 2017). WILPF welcomes the United Kingdom’s (UK) acceptance of recommendation 132.134: “In the context of the defence of the right to life, carefully assess the transfer of arms to those countries where they are likely to be used for human rights abuses and violations (Peru)”. Such acceptance is consistent with the UK’s obligations as a state party to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), particularly under articles 6 and 7, and as a state party to human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). It is also consistent with the UK’s obligations under the EU Common Position on Arms Exports and the UK’s own Consolidated Licensing Criteria on arms exports. These are...
WILPF Statement to the Third Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty
This statement was delivered by Ms. Ray Acheson, Director of WILPF's disarmament programme Reaching Critical Will, to the Third Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty on 12 September 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland. Download in PDF Yemen. Syria. Iraq. South Sudan. Ukraine. One only needs to look at news reports on these countries to understand that civilians are dying and cities are being destroyed. The statistics of the dead and the displaced, however, do not account for the personal horror experienced by each individual trapped in these war zones, watching their loved ones and their cities die. The statistics also do not necessarily account for the experiences of women or girls during and after armed conflict, which usually include vastly increased rates of sexual violence, trafficking, forced marriage, abuse, and harassment. Many—and sometimes most—of the weapons being used in these conflicts have been made and sold by ATT states parties and signatories. In...
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WILPF Statement to the CEDAW Committee's 67th session's review of Italy, regarding its arms exports
At the 67th Session of the of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), WILPF International and WILPF Italy delivered the following oral statement during the Committee’s meeting with NGOs. Thank you Madam Chair, Our submission is about the impact of Italy’s arms transfers on the rights and safety of women in importing countries. It provides some examples of transfers that undermine Italy’s international legal obligations, including under CEDAW. These are transfers to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, countries that have been involved in the conflict in Yemen. Italy is a party to the Arms Trade Treaty. In spite of what is required by the Treaty and the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, Italy has not established a specific mechanism to prevent arms sales from having an impact on gender-based violence in the recipient countries. There are also issues with the transparency of the information provided in the governments’ annual...
WILPF Statement to the UN conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, on the treaty's prohibitions
The following is WILPF's statement to the UN conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, on the treaty's general obligations, delivered on 18 June 2017. Thank you Madame President, We appreciate the new draft text, which is a good basis for further work. In regards to the general obligations, we would support the addition of a prohibition on planning and preparations to use nuclear weapons, and of language explicitly stating that transit of nuclear weapons is not permitted by states parties. These provisions would cover some of the most vital activities that are currently involved in the operation of nuclear “deterrence”. Before the lunch break the ICRC made the case for including planning and preparatios for use of nuclear weapons, so I won’t repeat that here, but strongly support their intervention. On the subject of transit, establishing that states parties must not permit the transit of nuclear weapons through their territorial waters,...
WILPF Statement to the UN conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, on the treaty's general obligations
The following is WILPF's statement to the UN conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, on the treaty's general obligations, delivered on 19 June 2017. Thank you Madame President, The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, which is a partner of ICAN, believes that the prohibitions of this treaty should be clear and comprehensive, and should be focused on affecting current nuclear weapon policies and practices. Among other things, this means maintaining the prohibition on testing. Prohibiting testing in the ban treaty would reinforce and strengthen the norm against nuclear weapon testing. It will also help to strengthen efforts for maintaining the funding and legal authority for the CTBTO’s verification regime. On the other hand, omitting testing from the prohibited activities in the ban treaty could leave a crucial gap in the treaty’s core prohibitions that will be necessary for preventing future development or reconstitution of...
WILPF Statement to the Human Rights Council: Human rights must come before profits from the arms trade
Statement made by WILPF at the UN Human Rights Council 35th session (6 to 23 June 2017) during General Debate under items 2 and 3[1]. WILPF has been consistently drawing attention to human rights violations connected to arms transfers. We therefore welcome the increasing attention that the Council has been giving to this issue. Action by human rights bodies adds an extra layer of accountability beyond the Arms Trade Treaty and reinforces that human rights concerns must come ahead of profit in the arms trade. We particularly welcome the High Commissioner’s report on the “Impact of arms transfers on the enjoyment of human rights”,[2] which reviews relevant international and regional legal frameworks, including guidance that exists on this subject from different human rights mechanisms. In this report, the UN High Commissioner highlights the many ways in which arms, and the arms trade, contribute to gender-based violence. It is very clear in outlining the role that the Committee on...
WILPF Statement on the oral update of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, regarding weapons transfers to Syria and their impact on women
WILPF delivered the below statement on the margins of the 35th session of the Human Rights Council, during an interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Click here to watch the video. The conflict in Syria has witnessed intense use of explosive weapons in highly populated areas by warring parties and their international allies. This practice has not yet been faced with this Council’s scrutiny despite causing huge civilian death, destruction of infrastructure and displacement, all with distinct, severe and disproportionate impact on women. Women affected by explosive violence often have fewer opportunities to access health care services and reconstruction processes. When heading the household, as women often do during armed conflict, they face systematic discrimination in trying to provide for their families. They also become more susceptible to further physical attack and sexual exploitation, especially when displaced from their homes. The...
WILPF Statement to the Human Rights Council on the need for continued scrutiny of the gendered impacts of arms proliferation
The following is WILPF's submission to the UN Human Rights Council 35th session (6 to 23 June 2017), Clustered interactive dialogue with: Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) welcomes the reports of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.[1] Mr. Muntarbhorn, the presentation of your first report to the Human Rights Council is an historic moment in the United Nations’ commitment towards protecting and promoting the universality of human rights. We urge all states to take the opportunity offered by your mandate and your approach of open and constructive dialogue to identify effective ways to prevent violence and...
WILPF Statement on the USA's arms transfers to countries where child soldiers are used
This statement is WILPF's submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on its review of the USA’s combined Third and Fourth Periodic Report submitted under article 8 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, made in May 2017.
Arms transfers have a well-documented and multi-faceted impact on human rights. They facilitate the movement of the very same weapons – or ammunition – that are used to curtail human rights in direct and specific ways by militaries, paramilitaries, law enforcement groups, criminals and gangs. This impact includes, but is not limited to the recruitment of children and their use in hostilities.
Experts have long recognized the strong link between child soldiers and arms transfers, particularly small arms and light weapons. In 2008, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on Children and Armed Conflict, stated that “it is argued by many that it is...
WILPF statement to the 2017 NPT Preparatory Committee
This statement was delivered by Ms. Ray Acheson, Director of WILPF's disarmament programme Reaching Critical Will, to the 2017 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee in Vienna, Austria on 3 May 2017. All of the nuclear-armed states—including those that are states parties to the NPT—are investing in the expansion, development, or so-called modernisation of their nuclear arsenals. These programmes are not just about “increasing the safety and security” of nuclear weapon systems, which is what the nuclear-armed states claim. The “upgrades” in many cases provide new capabilities to the weapon systems. They also extend the lives of these weapon systems beyond the middle of this century, ensuring that the arms race will continue indefinitely. China is transitioning from liquid-fueled slow-launching missiles to solid-fuel, quicker-launching road-mobile missiles, to make the force more “useable”. Recently China has also sped up the modernisation of its sea-based strategic...
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WILPF statement to the UN conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their elimination
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Statement to the UN conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their elimination, Topic 2
Delivered by Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will
29 March 2017
Thank you Madame/Mr. President,
Thank you for this opportunity to address this conference. WILPF has prepared a paper on principles, prohibitions, and positive obligations of a treaty banning nuclear weapons. After listening closely to interventions from delegations this morning, I would like to comment on a few of the prohibitions and positive obligations.
Prohibitions
In order to be effective as a prohibition treaty that leads to the elimination of nuclear weapons, the core prohibitions the treaty should be as clear and comprehensive as possible. It should draw upon other treaties prohibiting weapons but also needs to be mindful of the existing rules governing nuclear weapons, as well as specific...
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WILPF statement on multidimensional insecurity and its impacts on Libyan women
The following statement was submitted by WILPF to the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council (27 February to 24 March) under Item 10: Technical assistance and capacity-building, Interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Libya. إضغط هنا لقراءة البيان الخطي باللغة العربية After the 2011 NATO military operation to remove Qadhafi from power, there was a brief moment of hope for a new, inclusive and democratic country. Libya has, however, not only been rendered internally chaotic and dysfunctional, it has become: a target of extended aerial bombardment by the United States,[1] Egypt,[2] and possibly France[3]; a site of Islamic extremism and home to an apparent offshoot of Daesh (ISIS); a corridor for people traffickers, and a destination for desperate refugees and migrants attempting to flee to Europe;[4] and a source of weapons flows that have destabilised fragile internal truces, Libya’s neighbours and the region.[5] The use of explosive weapons in populated...
WILPF statement to UN member states on the Commission on the Status of Women and the US government's travel ban
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. A declared principle, made during its first session in 1947, is: “to raise the status of women, irrespective of nationality, race, language or religion, to equality with men in all fields of human enterprise, and to eliminate all discrimination against women in the provisions of statutory law, in legal maxims or rules, or in interpretation of customary law.” Each year WILPF brings women from all over the world to participate in the annual session in New York. In so doing, we strengthen the multilateral system and assist in upholding the Charter of the UN itself. The Charter recognises the significant role played by civil society in the work of the UN by making provision for formal participation of NGOs in UN processes. On 27 January 2017, the US President issued an executive order banning all entry to the...
WILPF statement: Aleppo is bidding humanity goodbye
14 December 2016 (Read this statement in Arabic) If you are active on Twitter or Facebook and follow global news, this is probably not the first text you have read on what is currently happening in Aleppo. But if it is, then brace yourself for the worst before reading what follows. The northern Syrian city of Aleppo has been a key battleground in the conflict between the warring factions in Syria for the past four years. However, the latest developments since July 2016 have prompted a series of consecutive turning points in the city’s modern history, leading to its catastrophic destruction this week. Since the Syrian dictator and his foreign allies, including Russia and Iran, firmly encircled the eastern part of the city last September, Aleppo has been witnessing the most relentless, indiscriminate aerial bombardment since the peaceful revolution metastasised into a bloody conflict. Local sources and international reports have drawn out a systematic pattern of explosive weapon...
WILPF statement to the Fifth CCW Review Conference
The following statement was delivered by Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, at the Fifth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva on 12 December 2016. As we gather here in Geneva, we are witness to the destruction of entire cities, communities, and societies elsewhere. The worst example of this right now is Aleppo. This city has seen the relentless use of explosive weapons in populated areas, leading to the destruction of hospitals and homes. Prohibited or restricted weapons such as incendiary weapons, chemical weapons, and cluster munitions have been used. No humanitarian aid has reached the area since July 2016. There are about 275,000 civilians besieged in eastern Aleppo, including 100,000 children. Leaflets warning civilians that they will be annihilated if they stay are being dropped and there is widespread concern about the impact of potentially 200,000...
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