ASIA PACIFIC WOMEN’S CONFERENCE on PEACE AND SECURITY

** VISIONS FOR A NEW WORLD **

Philippine Normal University                       8-10 September 2009
Manila, The Philippines

We, the participants of the Asia Pacific Women’s Conference on Peace and Security, hereby declare our commitment towards the following VISIONS FOR A NEW WORLD. For us, these visions are not merely wishes or dreams outside the reality of our day-to-day struggle, but what we are actually practicing in our daily lives.  We believe that it is absolutely possible to realize these visions through the agency of both the individual and the collective to transform words into worlds.

We envisage a world where –

1.  All nuclear weapons will be banned and abolished so that the inhumane, unjust use of nuclear weapons such as those used by the United States against Japan in World War II will never be repeated on anyone in any place of this planet.

2.  Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution will stay in effect in Japan – AND be adopted by all nations.

    Article 9: Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based
    on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce
    war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of
    force as means of settling international disputes.
    (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph,
    land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will
    never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will
    not be recognized.

3.  The Japanese government will acknowledge, apologise and make reparation to all victims of military sexual slavery, rape and other abuse of women.

4.  Women in the Asia Pacific region and around the world shall continue to fight for the dismantling of foreign bases and the eventual demilitarization of the whole world.

5.  The Sri Lankan government will give priority to feeding and housing those who have been forced to become refugees in their own country.

6.  Refugees will be returned to their homelands if they wish to return but, under all circumstances, will be granted asylum wherever they seek it.

7.  Women in Uganda and women world wide will be supported and empowered – and rape and violence against women will be eliminated.

8.  The international community will, at last, recognise the historical injustice perpetrated against the Assyrian community and, recognising the ongoing injustice – the genocide and persecution since 1914 till now – will move to right the wrong.

9.  Afghan women and women from all different cultural and linguistic backgrounds living in Australia will be supported and treated equally by the government and all mainstream citizens.

10. Combatants, murderers and rapists during war will be subjected to a Truth-and Justice Commission before forgiveness is offered to them. Only then will true reconciliation and peace-building be possible.

11.  The women of Nigeria will speak with one voice as a result of their networking and supporting each other – following conflict.

12.  Crimes against lesbians will be recognised as crimes – and punished.

13.  Lesbians will be decriminalised around the world.

14.  Biodiversity will be at the centre of life. Then, there will be no more war, no biotechnology, no genetic modification.

15.  Communities will be built by and for the people who live there (not by and for developers, multi-nationals, etc.).

16.  Intellectual property, stolen from women and Indigenous peoples through globalisation, will be returned.

17.  Governments will provide employment opportunities and social security for women in Nepal and other Asia Pacific countries, so that women will not fall into the traps inherent in international migration.

18.  The Millennium Development Goals will take account of women’s poverty.

19.  The education of women and girls will be given priority in Kenya and all other countries. Women and girls will be taught about their rights.

20.  Education will be made compulsory in all countries for both girls and boys up to the age of sixteen.

21. In order to eliminate men's violence against women, all children will be taught good moral and humane education based on the importance of love, equality, compassion, peace and solidarity. This will happen, initially, through the socialization process and, then, through compulsory education in schools.

22. Legislation will be brought in to prohibit child labour and employers’ continual use of child labour will be punishable by law.

23.  Children all over the world will be protected in conflict times. Child neglect and battering should constitute a crime against humanity.

24. The sexualisation of women and girls will be recognised as the serious problem that it is.  

25.  Feminists and other women will continue to speak out against the sexual use and abuse of women and girls until our voices are heard.

26.  Women’s household work, which has previously been invisible, will be recognised.

27.  Women-specific coping strategies will be designed and implemented during natural disasters.

28.  Men’s violence against women will not be tolerated. The State will ensure that laws against domestic violence are implemented.

29.  The silent wars against women will be exposed. The practice of dumping unsafe drugs on women in poorer countries and Indigenous populations will be eliminated.

30.  The accepted view in western countries that there is an urgent need for population-control will be challenged.

31.  Unsafe abortion practices and unsafe vaccines will be eliminated, and technology will not be used for sex-selection.

32.  Women will be in control of when they have sex not men. No more use of force by men during sex.

33.  Feminists and other women will work with young women to help them understand the dangers inherent in medicalisation.

34.  The motives and tactics and of multinational corporations and the so-called “Green Revolution” will be exposed.

34.  Seed preservation and regeneration will be controlled by farmers, particularly women.  

36.  Women will set up an ongoing protest tent outside the offices of Monsanto and camp there till Monsanto changes its tactics!!

37.    Seed Sharing Networks among women will be developed.

38.  The Israeli government will hear the words of Human Rights activists within Israel and around the world and act to promote justice and bring about peace with the Palestinians.

39.  The concerns of women – Palestinian and Israeli – will be given priority over concerns for security. Israeli military funding will be transferred to social, economic and personal security and to promoting the safety and dignity of women.

40.  Women will transform politics.

41.  Women will represent 50% of parliamentarians in Nepal and in all countries around the world.

42.  Parliaments will strive for real equality over time. Where 30% of elected members are women, it will be reversed until equality is reflected.

43.  The onus is on the State to increase participation of women at all stages of the peace process. Women will participate in decision-making so that conflict will, more often than not, be prevented.

44.  NGOs will use UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security as a lobbying tool to demand that States develop and implement national action plans.

45.  Women’s groups will form collaborative networks with NGOs and other like-minded organisations.

46.  Peace will be accompanied by: social justice for all, demilitarisation of society, end of capitalism, end to all violence and discrimination against women, including lesbians, and creation of true participatory democracy.

47. Nation States will adopt the motto: NO VIOLENCE, NO CONFLICT, NO GENDER DISCRIMINATION, NO WAR!



10 September 2009.