Biennial Report 2011-2012

Need for a Global Women's Network Contributing to World Peace

The Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP) is a women's NGO, founded in 1992, with the motto, "Humankind is a family living in one global home, the Earth." Since 1994, WFWP has been dispatching volunteers to countries throughout the world. WFWP is committed to the achievement of freedom from poverty, as well as to implementing development cooperation activities based on local needs.

Since the year 2000, WFWP, as a UN NGO, has sought to contribute through its activities to the attainment of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which is a universal goal of the international community in the 21st century.

The Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, co-founder of WFWP, passed away on September 3, 2012. Rev. Dr. Moon appreciated the values and abilities unique to women and promoted the development of WFWP and the dawning of the era of women, together with WFWP founder, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, his wife.

Rev. Dr. Moon inaugurated the "Global Women's Peace Network (GWPN)" holding a world assembly with women leaders from 194 countries as his last work, several weeks before his passing. In order to overcome the limitations in achieving world peace, which has depended largely on Governmental Organizations (GO) centering on men, this WFWP project of the GWPN was initiated so that the peace movement by women, centering on NGOs, can work together with men, to solve problems in various activity fields, through a global network. WFWP leaders decided to expand the circle of the peace movement they have developed thus far, and build further cooperation with women leaders, the UN, governments, civil organizations, and NGOs across the world to realize the goal of world peace.

Poor governance and leadership can lead to various problems in the world. However, features common among the countries that have a high representation of woman decision-makers are economic wealth, high level of democracy, less political corruption and low military expenditures. Building a peaceful and comfortable country depends on the active participation of women. Let us help foster many women leaders, make efforts to incorporate the view of women and mothers in national policies and pave the way to a bright future for girls, women, wives, and mothers! This will no doubt benefit the country as a whole.

As 2015, the target year of the MDGs, approaches, some goals have already been achieved and some may not be achieved. In particular, the possibility to attain gender equality is still remote. In order to continue to tackle issues in the post-2015 world, a global network, especially an influential network of women leaders will be increasingly needed.

WFWP International Service Projects and Overseas Volunteer Activities are a grassroots global network that connects Japan and the rest of the world, in which members of all races help each other. We truly feel hope when we see children and youth in developing countries grow up, acquire sustainable jobs, contribute to society, and build happy marriages. We wish to express our sincere appreciation for having been able to continue our work for the past 18 years, with the cooperation of countless supporters.

This booklet is a summary of some of the activities by WFWP overseas volunteers from Japan and local WFWP members, carried out in cooperation with various chapters of WFWP International, UN organizations and other NGOS, from 2011 to 2012. We hope that this will help you to better understand our endeavors to realize the Millennium Development Goals and contribute to real world peace.