Reject NATO’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda!

Released: July 11, 2024

REJECT NATO’S WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY AGENDA! 

FILIPINO WOMEN ARE NOT PAWNS TO JUSTIFY MILITARIZATION AND WAR! 

GABRIELA USA rejects claims made during NATO’s Women, Peace and Security roundtable discussion that increasing women’s representation in military strategy and war rooms will help build peace in the world. Filipino women do not build peace by playing into the hands of imperialist war mongers; they build peace by fighting for their rights and demands on the ground amongst the oppressed and exploited masses! 

United States Secretary of State, Anthony “Bloody” Blinken, announced that the United States is planning to launch their third Women, Peace and Security regional center in the Philippines soon to “share best practices” on women’s leadership in tackling society’s challenges. It is clear, however, that the United States does not have Filipino women’s best interests in mind because it is none other than the U.S. that is dragging the Philippines into its war against China, endangering the lives of millions of Filipino women and children! 

NATO is nothing but the U.S.’s war alliance to spread its political and economic hegemony around the world by way of militarization, and it uses the poor conditions of women to justify it. GABRIELA USA rejects this notion – it is U.S.- led war and militarization that has caused increasing forced migration, economic devastation, and environmental disaster, and has spread violence against women through prostitution, trafficking and commodification of Filipino women and girls.  We will not forget that justice has not been achieved for Jennifer Laude, for the case of “Nicole” and countless other Filipino women who have been exploited and killed at the hands of U.S. militarization. 

It is true that Filipino women play a vital role in building peace - not under the direction of the US or UN, but by their own participation in building a mass movement for national democracy in the Philippines! It is only through our participation in fighting for national sovereignty, the basic rights of all and towards building a society free from exploitation and oppression that women are able to build peace! 

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