Reaching Critical Will Information

Reaching Critical Will (RCW) is the disarmament programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) , the oldest women's peace organisation in the world. In 1915, women from countries at war with each other and from neutral countries came together in The Hague to discuss solutions to the causes and violence of World War I. They founded WILPF as an organisation with a mandate to challenge militarism, patriarchy, and capitalism as the roots of war and violence. WILPF created RCW in 1999 to lead the organisations analysis and advocacy for disarmament, the reduction of global military spending and militarism, and the investigation of gendered aspects of the impact of weapons and of disarmament processes. We seek to achieve disarmament, challenge militarism, and confront violent masculinities and gender discrimination through research, policy analysis, advocacy, monitoring, and reporting on international forums such as the United Nations and other meetings of governments and organisations, and through international civil society networks and campaigns. Our work on disarmament is firmly embedded in an integrated approach to WILPFs work on militarism, human rights, gender equality and womens rights, and global economic and environmental justice. We are committed to creating change by altering discourse, promoting new perspectives and approaches, and affecting policy by taking a holistic view of the challenges we face and solutions we can achieve.