COMMUNIQUE of IWA’s 3rd International Assembly - Penang, Malaysia June 17-18, 2024
After 9 years, member organizations, prominent women leaders, delegates and observers from around the world came together for the 3rd International Assembly of the International Women’s Alliance (IWA) held in Penang, Malaysia on June 17-18, 2024 with the theme “Women Resist Imperialist Wars, Militarism, and Exploitation! Unite and Fight for Land, Labor Rights, & Liberation!”
The two day assembly brought together close to 200 participants representing over 20 countries and various national liberation struggles including the Philippines, Palestine, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kurdistan, Hong Kong, Myanmar, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Guatemala, United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, France, Jordan, and Malaysia.
Following the opening ceremony of IWA hymn and delegate entrance as well as a prayer and cultural song and dance by Moningolig Pogun Tokou (Defending the land of our ancestors), the delegates, speakers and guests were welcomed by Sarojeni Rengam, Executive Director of Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific, who shared the political context and history of Malaysia. Rengam highlighted the conditions of women in Malaysia and the rich history of resistance and ended with the call for global unity in the fight for women’s rights against imperialism.
Azra Sayeed, IWA Chairperson, gave the context and framework of the 3rd International Assembly. Sayeed called on all women and gender-oppressed people to continue to strengthen our global unities and expose imperialism as the root of worsening global conditions, from climate change, to economic exploitation, to imperialist wars and violence against women. She urged women to wholeheartedly take up the fight for peoples’ rights and continue advancing victories towards liberation in the face of the rotten neo-liberal system.
Ka Juliet de Lima, Chairperson of the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, shared the Keynote Speech entitled Lessons in Our History: Women Engaged in Struggle. Ka Julie urged attendees to internalize the urgent task of building the International Women’s Alliance, noting women’s historic role in the development of civilization. Drawing on the global conditions of women, she called on attendees to focus on the plight of the most exploited women.
The rest of day one focused on IWA’s two main campaigns: Women Against War and Women Over Profit. These two campaign frameworks lay the foundation to interrelate the issues of women and their role in waging various forms of resistance to confront these systems of oppression and exploitations as presented by an inspiring lineup of speakers during panel discussions. Speakers included former political prisoner Adora Faye de Vera with GABRIELA in the Philippines, Mercy Mang with the Chin National Front representing Myanmar, Yejide Orumila with the African National Women’s Organization (ANWO) based in the United States. A second panel included Maha Muhsen of the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) in support of the Palestinian people’s liberation movement, Vicenta Jeronimo Jimenez with Comité De Desarrollo Campesino (CODECA) from Guatemala, and Dilar Dirk of CENI of the Kurdish women’s movement.
Overall the panel discussions highlighted the various forms of struggle taken up by women and their movements, and echoed the calls to agitate, organize and mobilize women to take up fights against our main enemies.
Global regional breakouts allowed participants to focus on planning for campaigns and priorities at a regional level.
Cultural presentations punctuated the day., including a piece entitled “Mother’s Day,” emphasizing the dire conditions that women face around the world and their role as a decisive force in fighting for the people. Other cultural presentations included the group
River Flow, an Indonesian children’s choir whose members live and attend school in a nearby village on Sumatra Island and whose parents are peasant activists in the Indonesian countryside.
The second day focussed on the business of the Alliance, with reports from the outgoing Executive Committee, resolutions, uniting on a General program of action for 2024-2028, and elections for the new executive committee. Azra Sayeed, outgoing Chairperson of IWA, announced the makeup of the new Executive Council
Chairperson - Saro Rengam, Pesticide Action Network (Malaysia)
Vice Chairperson - Marie Boti, Women of Diverse Origins (Canada)
Secretary General - Donna Denina, Gabriela Seattle (U.S.)
Treasurer - Yasmin Ahmed, Revolutionaire Eenheid (Netherlands)
Auditor - Obeth Montes, Gabriela Philippines (Philippines)
The newly elected Chairperson alongside the newly elected EC then led the entire Assembly in a collective reading of the updated Declaration of Unity Statement, renewing our commitment to continue to grow and strengthen the alliance.
To close out the 2 day assembly, First IWA Chairperson Liza Maza and Azra Sayeed presented IWA’s Women of Valor awards, recognizing exceptional contributions to the advancement of the rights of women around the world. The first awardee was Evelyn Calugay, a member of PINAY in Quebec, Canada who has spent most of her life working for the labor rights of Filipino migrant women. The 2nd award was to Wilma Tiamzon, a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines who participated in peace negotiations between the Government Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, alongside her husband Benito Tiamzon. In 2022, Wilma and Benito were captured and brutally killed under Marcos Jr. regime. The 3rd awardee was the late Anuradha Ghandi, a great revolutionary leader, writer and founder of the Communist Party of India. She is also the author of Philosophical Trends in the Feminist Movement. The final award went to Etaf Al-ayan from occupied Palestine, a revolutionary woman targeted by the Zionist occupation, who has served multiple terms in administrative detention alongside many other political prisoners. After the Women of Valor awards, a beautiful tribute video to honor all of the martyrs who dedicated their lives to the struggle for national and social liberation was presented.
The assembly ended in a cultural performance led by the IWA Choir with participation from the assembly participants in singing, “Bread and Roses”.
IWA Assembly participants continued on to the International Festival for People's Rights and Struggles (IFPRS) on June 19-20 where IWA led a workshop creating a protest dance, which was included as the closing cultural for the festival. IWA also hosted a banner making activity throughout the festival in which pieces of tapestry and textiles were sewn together carrying the theme “Women Unite Against War & Militarism”; the banner then traveled to San Diego, CA for the Cancel RIMPAC Summit and Mobilization. Members of IWA also participated in the 7th Assembly of the International League of People’s Struggle which was held in the same location from June 21-24.