2008 Nonviolence Programme Appeal

2008 has been a good year for War Resisters' International. WRI is an international network of pacifist groups, with the twin aims of connecting and supporting war resisters around the world, and promoting nonviolent action to remove the causes of war.

This year we have seen the re-vitalisation of a network of European antimilitarist groups, working together to end the militarisation of Europe, by taking direct actions against the main institutions, infrastructures and corporations supporting it.

2008 has also seen a more concrete cooperation of groups related to WRI in Latin America. They produced a common statement against the conflict escalation last march between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador and have launched a bi-monthly magazine, called 'Periférica' where a number of WRI affiliates and the WRI office have contribute. The presence of representatives from Chile/Paraguay, Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Colombia at the WRI annual meeting was another important step in this direction.

The WRI office and particularly the Nonviolence Programme has been instrumental in these developments of our network. The programme centrally has been a coordination point and source of resources on nonviolence and war profiteering. The International Nonviolence Training Exchange, brought together activists from around the world to inspire us in the importance of training ourselves for nonviolent actions. The launch in January of the 'Handbook for Nonviolent Campaign' is an important achievement of the programme, and we have greats hopes that this resource will be use by grassroots in their campaign and actions. The bi-monthly newsletter on war profiteering - War Profiteers' News - is another resource especially useful for activists working in this field.

Next year we are looking forward to giving more trainining workshops -- for instance with Russians and Chechens -- and playing a key role in the demonstrations against NATO as the deadly alliance celebrates its 60th anniversary.

All this work has an effect at the grassroots level. Whenever I tell people not involved in the movement what I work on, they say: 'you have not been successful in your work, look how many wars are there today'. I reply "OK, maybe we have not managed to stop the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. But our work supporting local groups working for nonviolence and antimilitarism in their own local places does have an impact. Every time another person refuses to go to war or takes action against the causes of war, it is a step towards a world without war and injustice, and for me that is already a crucial achievement in today's world.

The main problem facing the Nonviolence Programme is quite simple: we don't have any secure funds for next year. Unlike in previous years, WRI as an organisation no longer has the reserves to cover the programme's cost. We have been successful in accessing some external funds, for specific projects of the programme, but they don't cover the cost of running a staff person living in London. Last year we received generous donations from supportive people. This year your support will be even more important in maintaining WRI's Nonviolence Programme.

For donations go to: http://wri-irg.org/node/1630

Thank you,

Javier Gárate

(Nonviolence Programme Coordinator)