Celebrating Feminists’ Voices, Inspiring Global Peace

Educating Children for Peace

23 October 2012

Educating children for peace is one of the most important aspects of building cultures of peace. It makes intuitive sense, that if we glorify war and militarism in childhood education, we impart a legacy that normalizes war and war making. Similarly if we neglect those important histories and stories of peace, non-violence and compassionate contributions to human progress, we fail to educate the next generation about what is possible.

To promote childhood peace education, since 1953 the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the Jane Addams Peace Association has presented the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards.

The Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards are given annually to the children’s books published the preceding year that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence.

The Awards were presented on October 19, 2012 in New York City, among peace-advocates, educators, children’s author’s publishers and school children. Also present was honorary guest Dr. Gordon Sato, a biologist committed to developing innovative solutions to ending world hunger, and inspiration for the winning title The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families.

Winners and honorees of this year Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards are:

Book cover The Mangrove TreeWinner in the Books for Younger Children category:
The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families
Written by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illustrated by Susan L. Roth, published by Lee & Low.

Winner in the Books for Older Children category:
Sylvia & Aki
Written by Winifred Conking, published by Tricycle Press, an imprint of Random House.

Honor Book for Younger Children:
Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts about Peace
Written and illustrated by Anna Grossnickle Hines, published by Macmillan, an imprint of Henry Holt.

Honor Book for Younger Children:
Belle, the Last Mule at Gee’s Bend
Written by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud, illustrated by John Holyfield, published by Candlewick Press.

Honor Book for Older Children:
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
Written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson and published by Baltzer & Bray.

Honor Book for Older Children:
Inside Out & Back Again
Written by Thahna Lai, published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

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