Women of Peace in the Middle East: Peace Building through Women’s Federation

In the beginning of 2004, Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP), USA made a commitment to focus its attention on issues related to the Middle East , on the national as well as on the international level. This commitment merged an understanding of the importance of the region, the conviction that women are uniquely suited to build lasting peace in the world, and a profound sadness concerning the ongoing suffering and loss of life.

Initially, representatives of WFWP, USA drafted a Declaration for Peace in the Middle East. The document reflects the depth of insight that women bring to peace building: “Determine to become exemplary women of deep forgiving love…”; “Commit to becoming peacemakers, because only through the selfless heart of women who deeply care for all children as their own…”

Over a period of eighteen months, ending in December 2005, WFWP, USA led an effort to collect more than ten million signatures of support for the Declaration worldwide. This project was promoted in 38 nations, and was introduced at international conferences in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the United Nations. 

WFWP, USA participated in the “Women of Peace” program in Jerusalem, in May 2004, sponsored by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace and WFWP, International, which brought together 526 women from 41 nations. During this trip, WFWP, USA organized a visit to Israeli and Palestinian victims of violence at Hadassah Hospital, a visit to the Yad be Yad Bilingual School with gifts and a financial donation, as well as a “Bridge of Peace” resulting in approximately 200 pairs of “sisters of peace.” Each woman returned home deeply touched, renewed, and changed. 

In January 2005, WFWP, USA supported Iraqi women and their families, who live in the USA, with their historic national election. In the area of Washington DC, WFWP members provided transportation for a number of Iraqis to travel to the polling place in Maryland. In the polling place outside of Los Angeles, WFWP members, along with Service for Peace youth and members of the Pacific-Los Angeles Chapter of the UNA-USA, were given permission to setup a hospitality tent. Over a period of three days, hundreds of Iraqi women and their families were provided refreshments, with food and drink donated by ten area businesses.

The Women’s Peace Initiative (WPI) for the Middle East and South Asia was founded as a project of WFWP, USA, in the spring of 2005. WPI is dedicated to helping women transcend boundaries of ethnicity, religion, and nationality to create bridges of peace in the Middle East and South Asia. This Initiative aims to expand the understanding of western women about the history, cultures, religions, and the status of women in the region, through public forums and the media, as well as empower women from the region with the knowledge, tools, and support to expand the culture of peace at home, in communities, and between nations.  

The Women’s Peace Initiative formed a panel of women from five countries to present its views in public forums. Each panelist gives a presentation on the status of women in their homeland, also tells the story of how they have gone beyond their own personal boundaries to build deep bonds of friendship through their work with WPI. This panel has been presented in George Mason University, the University of Maryland, in Oakland, California, and at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington DC.

In 2005 and 2006, WFWP, USA sponsored programs focusing on the Middle East at the Capitol Hill Club in commemoration of International Women’s Day. The 2005 program, entitled, “Women Creating Lasting Peace,” brought Iraqi women leaders together with American women leaders. The 2006 program, “The Essential Role of Women in Creating Peace,” highlighted the WPI panel.

WFWP, USA continues in its commitment to focus on the Middle East, by bringing women from the west together with women from the Middle East, using the media of education, service, and friendship, to help the region move toward a lasting peace.

Ms. Alexa Fish Ward is President of WFWP, USA, and Vice President of WFWP, International