Sign the petition for peace talks in Korea
Dear President Moon, Chairman Kim, President Trump, President Xi:
As women leaders who have long called for a Peace Treaty to formally end the Korean War, we urge you to honor your government's commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which calls for women's participation at decision-making levels in conflict resolution and peace processes.
Decades of research now show that women's inclusion in peace processes leads to a peace agreement and a far more durable one when women help draft it. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, "The participation of civil society groups, including women's organizations, makes a peace agreement 64 percent less likely to fail. When women participate in peace processes, the resulting agreement is 35 percent more likely to last at least fifteen years."
Recognizing this, last October, the United States signaled its commitment to increase women's participation in peace processes to prevent, end and rebuild after conflict when President Trump signed into law the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, which passed with bi-partisan Congressional support. Now is the time to implement it.
And we don't mean just any women at the table, and certainly not women with an established record advocating for military action.
We have prepared a list of women peacemakers with expertise on Korea from academia, disarmament, humanitarian aid, development, citizen diplomacy, and women's rights. Their inclusion is the greatest assurance that there will be a mutually acceptable peace agreement to all sides.
Failure to reach a peace agreement endangers the entire world. Success could mean a new era for world peace. We urge you to act wisely.
We look forward to your response.
Aiyoung Choi, USA, Steering Committee Member, Women Cross DMZ
Ann Wright, USA, Retired US Army Colonel and Diplomat
Christine Ahn, USA, Women Cross DMZ
Cora Weiss, USA, UN Representative, International Peace Bureau
Ewa Eriksson Fortier, Sweden, Humanitarian Aid Worker
Gloria Steinem, USA, Writer and Activist, Presidential Medal of Freedom Awardee
Gwyn Kirk, USA, Women for Genuine Security
Hye-Jung Park, USA, Filmmaker and Educator
Kozue Akibayashi, Japan, Intl President, Women's Intl. League for Peace and Freedom
Leymah Gbowee, Liberia, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate
Liz Bernstein, Canada, Executive Director, Nobel Women's Initiative
Mairead Maguire, Northern Ireland, 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate
Meri Joyce, Australia, Northeast Asia Regional Coordinator, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)
Nan Kim, USA, Professor, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
We are sending this letter to the following leaders of the UN Command nations:
Theresa May, Prime Minister, United Kingdom
Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister, Australia
Charles Michel, Prime Minister, Belgium
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister, Canada
Mulatu Teshome, President, Ethiopia
France – Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron, President
Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President, Greece
Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Luxembourg
Mark Rutte, Prime Minister, The Netherlands
Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, New Zealand
Rodrigo Duterte, President, Philippines
Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister, Thailand
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President, Turkey
Cyril Ramaphosa, President, South Africa
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister, Denmark
Ram Nath Kovind, President, India
Erna Solberg, Prime Minister, Norway
Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister, Sweden
Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister, Italy