ANC Women’s league pushes for peace-building rooted in human dignity – SABC News

The African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League calls for strengthened global solidarity, peace-building, and people-centered responses, reaffirming the critical role of progressive women’s movements in advancing justice, peace, and human dignity.
The league held a colloquium themed “The Global Impact of War on Vulnerable Communities,” focusing on how conflicts in the Middle East and beyond.
These conflicts disproportionately affect women, children, and marginalized groups, deepening poverty, displacement, and social instability.
As the world grapples with devastating conflicts, women and children bear the brunt.
This sentiment echoed at the ANC Women’s League Colloquium, which was in honor of International Women’s Month.
ANCWL Secretary General Nokuthula Nqaba says, “We meet at this colloquium when the question of war can no longer be treated as an abstract issue of diplomacy, military strategy, or great power rivalry. For the women of Palestine, Cuba, Western Sahara, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Iran, Venezuela, and all societies trapped in conflict, war is not a concept. It is the destruction of homes, the collapse of health systems, the death of children, the disappearance of loved ones, the burden of displacement, and the daily struggle to hold families and communities together amid the ruin.”
The ANC’s First Deputy Secretary-General Nomvula Mokonyane outlines key priorities.
“The ANC maintains that the global response to conflict must prioritise: protection of women and children in humanitarian interventions; women’s participation in peace negotiations and reconstruction; stronger international legal frameworks against war crimes and gender-based violence; un security council reform; and the role of multilateral platforms like BRICS, because we can’t focus only on economic relations when human lives are at stake.”
Meanwhile, the Cuban Ambassador to South Africa Fakri Rodríguez Pinelo calls for global unity, condemning the conflicts in the Middle East.
“It’s now more necessary than ever to advance the unity of peoples, especially women of the global south. what better vehicle than the immense power of the ladies of our nation? cuba categorically rejects violations of sovereignty and self-determination. we emphatically condemn military aggressions in Gaza and Iran, where women and girls are the most deeply affected victims.”
The ANC Women’s League says that they remain committed to leading progressive women’s movements, forging lasting peace for vulnerable communities worldwide while defending sovereignty.

www.sabcnews.com, https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/1114361-2/