Yemen conflict must end without delay, demand female peace activists
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Version 0 of 1. A letter demanding an immediate end to hostilities in Yemen was delivered to 10 embassies in The Hague on Wednesday. Delegates from the Women’s Power to Stop War conference, held in the city this week, delivered letters to the embassies of Britain, the US, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Russia, China, Germany, Egypt and France, and to representatives of the European commission in the Netherlands, outlining seven demands. The letter called for an immediate end to fighting, and to the transfer of arms to Yemen. It called for safe access for humanitarian aid agencies to deliver vital goods and services, and safe passage for the thousands of people who have been displaced by the fighting. The letter also demanded that those who have violated international law be held accountable, and called for governments to negotiate a lasting peace, based on the outcomes of the 10-month consultation – the national dialogue – that sought to avert conflict in the country in 2013. There was also a call for international governments, and the newly appointed UN envoy to Yemen, to engage with Yemeni women and civil society activists. The move followed an impassioned plea for action from the Yemeni activist Amal Basha during the three-day conference, which was organised to mark the 100th anniversary of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Related: Peace activists at The Hague decry $1.8tn global military spend in 2014 | Liz Ford “We are showing solidarity. We have got together a statement to deliver to 11 countries that were party to the national dialogue in Yemen, before the whole thing got out of control,” said Sameena Nazir, the president of WILPF Pakistan and vice-president of WILPF’s executive committee. Twenty-one women were selected to deliver letters to each of the embassies, a nod to events after the congress of women held in The Hague in 1915, which led to the creation of WILPF. Delegates from that meeting visited the embassies of countries engaged in the first world war to demand an end to the fighting. “In honour of our 100th anniversary, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom convened in The Hague to continue to discuss and debate the causes of war and how to reach peace. We heard from our sisters in Yemen and the conference has requested that the following statement be brought to your attention for urgent action,” read the letter. “The world is failing in Yemen. The world cannot be complicit. Yemen has been betrayed by the international community. The peaceful transfer of power has been undermined by external interests. Violence and war has been unleashed and fuelled from the outside. The human cost is incalculable.” Related: Yemen: ‘Now I've learned first-hand what it's like to be a displaced person’ Following recent air strikes by Arab states, the humanitarian situation in Yemen has been described by the International Committee of the Red Cross as catastrophic. The UN said more than 1,000 people had been killed since the bombing campaign began at the end of March. The Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, wants to flush out Iranian-backed Houthi fighters and restore the presidency of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled the country. Saudi Arabia has announced an end to its bombing campaign, but Reuters news agency reported that aid flights had been blocked by continued bombing. The final day of the WILPF conference, which brought together more than 900 peace advocates from around the world, including four Nobel peace laureates, ended with a recommitment to challenge multinational systems that encourage war, and to campaign for complete disarmament. Radhika Coomaraswamy, who is leading a UN global study on women, peace and security to mark the 15th anniversary of resolution 1325, which calls for women’s full participation in peace processes, told delegates the UN had “gone away from its core vision, that it should be a place for turning swords into ploughshares”. “The main focus on the UN should be to find non-violent ways to protect,” she said. |