A
brief overview of some of our activities and accomplishments are:
Women for International Peace and Arbitration was incorporated in 1985 as a
non-profit 501 C3 California Corporation. We are an international Non
Governmental Organization affiliated with the Department of Information of
the United Nations Department of Public Information. We have active
chapters in Africa, Canada, and United States. In addition there are many
members in Europe, Japan, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia
and Asia.
The primary purpose of this organization is to activate women and men in a
groundswell of sentiment and activities toward settlement of international
disputes by means of consultation, mediation and arbitration, thereby
enhancing the opportunity for global peace. The purposes are accomplished
without partisan political activity or support. We promote education to
identify and abolish the root causes of war. Although the principle
audience for the work of the organization is women, men fully participate in
the activities and membership of the organization.
WIPA is dedicated to the:
Promotion of the education of women in their role to bring peace to the
world
Equality of women and men
Arbitration and Mediation as a means of settling disputes
Communication through an international language
Elimination of prejudices
Early in our existence, 1988, WIPA arranged for 75 women to participate in a
week long Fifth Annual East-West Seminar for Peace in the Santa Cruz
Mountains, at Bosch Baha'i School. The women were from Finland, Sweden, the
(former) Soviet Union and the United States. The 1988 seminar was
co-sponsored by WIPA and Continuing the Peace Dialogue. It was a follow up
to an Annual East-West Seminar for Peace initiated by the Nordic Women in
1982, to bring women together to bridge the East-West "gap" and promote
international women's networks, as well as strategize for peace, justice and
better understanding between nations.
During the last decade, WIPA has provided service oriented scholarships for
young women to attend China's Xuzhou Normal University who demonstrated
their leadership in the area of peace and equality, joined the All China
Women's Federation to sponsor the Red Phoenix Project in Shaanxi Province to
send young women to University, and the Spring Bud Project which helps young
girls return to school in poverty stricken areas of China. WIPA'S Spring
Bud Project has sponsored the education of 150 girls in China's Hubei, Hebei
and Gansu provinces who would not otherwise have the opportunity for
education. Currently we sponsor an additional 100 girls, 50 in Inner
Mongolia and 50 in Qinghai, China.
WIPA has co-sponsored numerous seminars with the All China Women's
Federation to promote women's advancement in society including; health,
employment, family, equality between women and men and education issues. In
October 2000, WIPA hosted nine women from high ranking government positions
within the All China Women's Federation to visit the United States. This
educational visit included; The California based 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals, a Felony Court that hears Domestic Violence cases, The Pasadena
Dispute Resolution Center, Social and Economic Development Projects, Tahirih
Peace Institute in Boston, a meeting with women in technology at Lotus
Corporation, and the National Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse in
Illinois.
WIPA participated in conferences with the Modern Women's Foundation in
Taipei, Taiwan, before and after the passing of Taiwan's first Domestic
Violence laws. WIPA hosted a delegation of approximately 50 Taiwanese
judges, lawmakers, probation officers, police and social workers to New York
for the purpose of learning from our Domestic Violence experience in the
courts, jails, and shelters in the United States. A WIPA member traveled
with the delegation to assist them with this historic learning experience.
In Africa, the Sierra Leone Chapter, our largest chapter, created social and
economic development projects, literacy classes, various skill building
classes and helped 85 war orphans find their living relatives.
This chapter is currently closed.
In Zambia women took skill building courses provided by WIPA. Women were
taught health education, knitting and baking to elevate their economic
status.
WIPA participated in United Nations Conferences some of which include;
Women's Peace and Development Conference in Russia before the breakup of the
USSR, Served as a steering committee member on the First
Sino-American Conference on Women's Issues, Fourth United Nations Conference
on Women in China, The Social and Economic Development Conference in
Denmark, and annually the Commission on the Status of
Women in New York.
WIPA organizes seminars and conferences, publishes a quarterly newsletter
"The Peacemaker" and an informational series of booklets "Keys to Peace."
These are short pamphlets written on various subjects
related to the significant role of women and men in the promotion of peace.
The pamphlets are practical guides on topics regarding the development of
cooperative harmonious relationships among people.
Examples are 1 - Language for Growing Children of Peace, 2 - Peace and
Child Rearing, 3 - Peaceful Conflict Through Mediation. WIPA also publishes
a Sitting Room Seminar on Mediation, an informal group
discussion and study of mediation. The Seminar is designed to be held in
the home and to accommodate a group of up to ten persons., The time for
discussion is about 2 hours. A facilitator introduces the topic and guides
the discussion. The seminar is not designed to produce consensus or
resolution, but rather to increase awareness, sensitivity and knowledge.
WIPA