WOMEN SAY NO TO NATO

19.9.2023
Ulla Klötzer, power point ja Youtube
Massachusetts Peace Action, USA, webinar

Women say No to NATO
Global Women for Peace

In March 2023, as NATO prepared for its summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 11th and 12th, women from across the world got together online to discuss the upcoming summit and to prepare an action plan, an action plan that as well as saying No to NATO would say Yes to peace, presenting alternatives to war and a new vision of security.  They called themselves  Global Women for Peace United Against NATO.  Collectively, with the many voices from around the world, they produced a Declaration for Peace, outlining a message of peace, justice, solidarity, and common security and prepared a program of events in Brussels, home of the NATO headquarters, from July 6th to 9th, with meetings, debates, seminars and street actions.  Women from 37 countries on all continents were among the initial signers, including women from Massachusetts Peace Action.  

In our September 19th webinar, we invite you to a discussion with three of the initial organizers from Europe – Ulla Klotzer of Finland, Kate Hudson of the United Kingdom and Kristine Karch of Germany – on the background and goals of Women Say No, the issues with NATO from a global peace perspective and the work for us all going forward to win peace and a new vision of security.  It will be moderated by another of the initial organizers of Women Say No, Paki Wieland of Massachusetts Peace Action and Code Pink.  

Women: Sign the Declaration for Peace

Ulla Klötzer has been active since 1980 in different environment and peace organizations and movements. Vice chairperson of the Peace Union of Finland 1989-1991. Chairperson of the Energy Political Association – No to Nuclear Power 1989-1992. Vice chairperson of the Green League of Finland (Green party) 1991-1995. 

Chairperson of Alternative to EU non governmental organization 1995-2005. Coordinator of the movement Women Against Nuclear Power/Finland. Active in the movements Women for Peace/Finland and Global Women for Peace United Against NATO. She is a trained journalist and Steiner educator. 

Kristine Karch, Düsseldorf, Germany, is co-chair of Women Say No to NATO ,board member International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES), and founding member of Ecomujer, Women and the Environment.

Kate Hudson is a British left-wing political activist and academic who is the General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Media Officer of Left Unity. She served as Chair of CND from 2003 to 2010 and has been an officer of the Stop the War Coalition since 2002. She was Head of Social and Policy Studies at London South Bank University from September 2003 to 2010 and is now a Visiting Research Fellow. She was founding editor of the journal Contemporary Politics, serves on the editorial board of Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe and is a member of the Board of the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust.[2] She is also a member of the Editorial Board of the new radical left journal, Transform, founded in spring 2017, and linked to the European transform!network, the political foundation of the European Left Party.  Hudson has been a member of the Communist Party of Britain, the Respect Party and former National Secretary of the Left Unity Party where she is now Media Officer.  

Paki Wieland was for more than 20 years a family therapist as well as an activist. Her activism has taken her to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to challenge the blockade of Gaza with the peace boat “The Audacity of Hope”.  She has worked with Code Pink nationally and with the Western Mass chapter.  She has also long been part of No More Guantanamos and the School of Americas Watch.  She is a member of the Western Mass Raging Grannies.  She also has produced a weekly radio show Occupy the Airwaves for the past 15 years as well as a radio show in DC when she was staffing the Code Pink House there.  She also has long been an activist for climate justice, currently working with the Connecticut River Defenders.  And she is an active and core member of Massachusetts Peace Action.