July 14, 2006—The Board of Directors of the Global Fund for Women, a diverse group of women leaders from many nations, including South Africa, Nigeria, the Philippines, India, Algeria, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Mexico, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Ukraine, Ethiopia, the Netherlands, and the United States, is deeply concerned about the current climate of militarism and violence that dominates world affairs. The use of force to settle conflicts or to make a political statement adversely affects all people, but disproportionately hurts women and children. They are most likely to suffer physical harm, including sexual violence, as a consequence of such actions. They are also the most likely to become refugees as they flee from weapons that mutilate, maim and kill.

For almost 20 years, the Global Fund for Women, an international grantmaking foundation, has supported thousands of women's groups committed to realizing their vision of a world that is premised on the ideals of justice, peace and equality for all. From Israel and Palestine, to Colombia, Liberia, Rwanda and Kosovo women have provided leadership in peace movements and persevered in reconciliation efforts that value the sanctity of all life. Women have always understood that peace requires building a broad consensus that is rooted in respect for diversity.

Today, their hard-earned gains are under siege as the world faces the growing threat of violence being inflicted on people both by nation states and formal military forces as well as non-state actors, such as militias, national liberation movements, and religious extremists. Most recently, in response to the actions of militant groups in Palestine and Lebanon, the state of Israel has exacerbated its occupation of Palestine by inflicting massive collective punishment on the civilian populations of Gaza and Lebanon with a series of attacks on their towns and cities. Civilians in Mumbai, India have paid with their lives as bombs on commuter trains disrupted life in India's largest city and killed over 150 people. In Iraq, abuse by occupying troops and bloody feuds between local militias claim between 60 - 100 lives every day. In Afghanistan, only Kabul has any semblance of public security and safety, even as the hunt for Al-Qaeda continues. Threats of unilateral military action are currently being invoked by the West against the Republic of Iran.

We believe that the US-led war on terror has not made the world safer—instead, it has proved to be a harbinger of disaster for millions of ordinary people in the Middle East who are still reeling from the impact of the American invasion of Iraq and the resultant instability and political and economic insecurity in the region. This war has also had especially harmful and lasting repercussions for women and children. It has been enormously costly, in terms of lives, most of which have been civilian casualties, and in terms of precious economic resources that have been diverted from other critical human needs. By systematically ignoring the mandate and role of the United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom have undermined the authority and objectivity of this international body and made it impossible for the UN to act as a third party mediator in any global conflict. Lastly, the failure of the United States to live up to the Geneva Convention and the International Charter of Human Rights has engendered a sense of impunity among other nations and organizations as they too ignore these international standards.

As leaders of an international women's fund that supports women and children in over 160 countries, we state our strong and unequivocal opposition to the use of violence and military force - whether by nation states or non-state actors - to advance their political or economic goals. Violence that threatens or harms innocent civilians or inflicts collective punishment on them is unacceptable under any circumstances. No nation or movement can justify the use of such force in the name of self-defense, self-determination, pre-emptive strikes, counter-terrorism, religion, freedom or democracy.

We therefore make the following demands:

1. We urge the government of the United States to demonstrate integrity and leadership in the Middle East by working with the legally elected governments of Israel and the Palestinian people to effect an immediate cessation of violence on all sides and to peacefully resolve the current conflict within the framework of international law.
2. We urge all leaders, governments and the United Nations to heed the wide range of civil society voices opposing the abuse of force and demanding a fundamental review of the "so called endless war on terror" around the world.
3. We ask the international community to recognize and utilize the skills and expertise of regional and local women's peace groups as a valuable resource in mediating and resolving current conflicts, and to deliver on the promise of UN resolution 1325 that calls for women's leadership and representation in international peace-building efforts.
4. We urge the United Nations to reclaim its position as an independent, international institution that represents the whole world, not merely the great powers, and to stand firm against violence and unilateralism in order to promote the longterm human security of all people.
5. We call on all governments and national liberation movements to affirm their commitment to peace by abiding by the core agreements of international civil society—that represent our common values and shared aspirations. We urge them to direct resources away from military spending towards efforts that strengthen human rights with investments in the education, health and well-being of their people.