WFM-Canada Board of Directors

On November 9th, the WFM-Canada Board of Directors will be meeting in Ottawa.

Civil society meeting with Global Affairs Canada ahead of the ICC Assembly of States Parties meeting

The annual meeting co-hosted by WFM-Canada and Global Affairs Canada’s Legal Affairs Division to discuss issues related to the upcoming meeting of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court will take place on the morning of November 25th. Contact Fergus or Monique at the National Office if you have interest in attending, either in person or electronically.

Women, peace and security updates

Since beginning work in August, Canada’s newly appointed Women, Peace and Security Ambassador Jacqueline O’Neill has met with members of the Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada (WPSN-C), including WFMC, to discuss the expectations of civil society, who have long advocated for the appointment of a high-level champion for women, peace and security issues in Canada. In a longer meeting in October, the Ambassador consulted with WPSN-C on priorities for her three-year term.

Ambassador O’Neill spoke at the Women, Peace and Security Open debate at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, October 29th. You can watch her statement here (it begins at 2:03:02).

Annual progress reports on the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security are intended to be tabled in the House of Commons by the end of September each year ahead of being publicly released. However, as a result of the timing of the recently completed federal election, the progress report, which covers the year from April 1 2018 to March 31 2019, has been delayed.

The World Citizens’ Initiative

The World Citizens’ Initiative is a joint initiative of Democracy Without Borders, Civicus, and Democracy International. Their joint statement “We the Peoples – It’s time to give citizens a voice at the UN” calls on the UN to establish a World Citizens’ Initiative on the occasion of the UN’s 75th anniversary next year.

The Initiative officially launches on November 14th and is currently collecting endorsements from civil society groups and NGOs.

You can read the campaign’s full statement here.