About VDV
Platform Women & Sustainable Peace in a nutshell
There is no way to peace, peace is the way (Gandhi)
Conflicts will always exist. Instead of using violence, there are other, more creative ways to solve them.
Vision
The Platform Women & Sustainable Peace (PV&DV) is committed to ensuring that women are recognised as equal partners in achieving sustainable peace and security.
Wars are not just a matter for governments and armies. Groups of citizens fight each other, technology has made weapons available to everyone, even children. Armies are used to enforce or maintain ‘peace’. We strongly believe that sustainable peace never can be forced through violence but has to be based on a culture of peace and nonviolence.
Mission
As a platform, we want to connect and strengthen. We want to look beyond our own country, the Netherlands. Countries are becoming increasingly interdependent and so we will have to cooperate to achieve a sustainable peace worldwide.
PV&DV is an association consisting of a wide variety of members. It is formed by a combination of Dutch sections of international women’s and peace organisations, diaspora organisations and Dutch women’s organisations. The diversity of expertise, constituencies, and opportunities for influence of its members makes PV&DV the ideal meeting place for exchanging experiences, coordinating activities and, if necessary, taking joint action.
What we do
The core of our work is formed by three themes. These themes are interlinked and influence each other:
Women Peace and Security:
Since the Platform was founded in 2005, it has dedicated herself to the announcement and implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 ‘Women’s Peace and Security’. This resolution, unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council on 31 October 2000, is an important international tool to strengthen the position of women in all phases of (armed) conflict. It provides a solid foundation for the prevention and sustainable resolution of armed conflicts, in peace negotiations and reconstruction, and on the need to protect women from war violence, such as rape in times of war. See also our brochure ‘Women Peace Security, Resolution 1325 in Practice’.
PV&VD is a signatory to the Fourth Dutch National Plan of Action (2021 – 2025). See: www.nap1325.nl
Women’s rights:
There is still a lot of work to do to better the position of women and girls worldwide and to protect them against all forms of violence, like rape as a weapon of war and domestic violence. Nevertheless, in the past decades progress has been made. This also thanks to the efforts of the worldwide women’s movement.
Important are two solid international treaties: the convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Istanbul Convention.
Both are milestones in the history of the women’s movement and to which governments can be held accountable.
PV&DV is committed to keeping these treaties on the political agenda and preferably as high as possible. Women’s rights are human rights.
Safe and Sustainable World:
‘Another world is possible’
Unequal power relations between people, such as through gender, race, nationality, religion or economic position, lead to abuse of certain population groups and exploitation of the environment and nature. The consequences are millions of refugees, dislocation of communities, lack of food and water supply and new conflicts.
A different world order is needed. Inspiring, therefore, is an originally German initiative with a high-profile vision and action plan for sustainable security. Under the name ‘Inclusive Security’, this initiative has been extended to other European countries, including the Netherlands. PV&DV also participates in it.
VredesFlits
Every two weeks an electronic newsletter (mostly in Dutch) is issued with the latest news about international and national campaigns, activities from the members, reflection about political hot issues, etcetera.
Organisation
PV&DV is an association of women’s and peace organisations and individual members. Working groups are also part of PV&DV
Member organisations
Partner organisations
The Platform V&DV cooperates with two partner organisations:
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