Spurred on by the engagement of Women for Peace in Northern Ireland during the conflict there, and alarmed by the nuclear arms race and weapons shows, women from different parts of Switzerland decided to publicly raise their voices in protest. One of the main aims of Women for peace is, and has always been, to try and change people‘s idea of the enemy and so reduce conflicts. In 1994 the regional groups united to form Women for Peace Switzerland.
Quotation from Dorothee Sölle:
„Whoever intervenes and tries to change the world around him or her notices that it is his
or herself who is changed, but it is only through
such intervention that change is possible at all“.
Women for Peace pledge to work
toward a peaceful and just world in which the fundamental needs of all people areguaranteed in dignity;
for a world in which conflicts are settled through mediation and negotiation and not through violence;
for equality, in all fields, between women and men and for the inclusion of the women’s point of view
taking into consideration their different backgrounds and their own specific experiences.
This means that
- Women for Peace lance and support initiatives and petitions and take part in their promulgation.
- They initiate silent protests in public and take part in demonstrations and manifestations.
- They make their views known to politicians, write to newspapers and send readers‘ letters.
- They organize meetings and lectures, edit books and produce media programmes.
- They work together with national and international NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations).
Women für Peace are politically and religiously independent and are financed by membership fees and other contributions
|
