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p The Women’s International Democratic Federation pays great attention to the problems of women in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America which are struggling for the achievement and consolidation of national independence, against colonialism and neocolonialism. The Federation has constantly been a source of active support for the national liberation movement and has always called on the women of the whole world to show active solidarity for the women of those countries.

p The Federation prepared and conducted worldwide campaigns against the war unleashed by the French colonialists in Vietnam and against the military intervention in Korea by American imperialism. A great response was occasioned by the visit to Korea in 1951 by an international women’s commission which collected vast material on the crimes committed by imperialism in Korea. The commission’s report, entitled We Accuse, published as a brochure in 24 323 languages, helped to arouse world public opinion to struggle for the cessation of military action in Korea.

p The Federation has organised opposition to aggression wherever it occurred, and has won great praise for its consistent support of the Arab peoples in times of Israeli aggression, and for its solidarity with revolutionary Cuba and the peoples of Congo, Cyprus and the Indochinese states in their struggle for independence and sovereignty.

p The WIDF strives to draw the widest circles of women in Asian, African and Latin American countries into active participation in the international democratic women’s movement and to offer them practical help in solving their specific problems.

p To this end the Federation has held a succession of meetings of its ruling bodies and has prepared a number of regional forums. For example, the WIDF collaborated in organising several regional meetings of Latin American women, and also helped considerably in calling the Panamerican Women’s Congress in January 1963, held in Cuba. The Federation held an extended session of the WIDF Bureau in Indonesia (Jakarta, January 1960) which discussed problems pertaining to the women of Asian and African countries. There was a similar extended session of the WIDF Bureau in Mali (Bamako, January 1962) to discuss the problems of African women.

p The WIDF has sent many delegations of experienced leaders of women’s organisations to Asia, Africa and Latin America to pass on their experience to women’s organisations in those countries.

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p Documents dealing with the problems of Asian, African and Latin American women were adopted at the sessions of the WIDF’s executive bodies. Special motions supporting the demands of Asian, African and Latin American women were passed, all kinds of solidarity campaigns were conducted, articles on the problems of the women of these areas were published in their regular and special publications, and representatives were sent to the regional women’s and general conferences held by the nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

p The WIDF considers it its duty to attract the attention of national organisations in Europe to the need to give moral and material support to the women of the struggling countries. In addition to the women’s organisations of Britain, France and Holland which do immense work in supporting the national liberation struggle, there were also some European organisations which were not paying due attention to the question of solidarity.

p The session of the WIDF council in Warsaw (December 1960) and the World Congress of Women in Moscow (June 1963) helped the members of many women’s organisations in Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA to become aware of the importance of mobilising public opinion in their countries in support of the national liberation struggle. Following the Moscow Congress the women’s organisations of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, Sweden, Switzerland and other European countries became more active in their demands for an end to the war in Vietnam and for the elimination of the danger of aggression against Cuba.

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p These countries also answered the WIDF’s call to initiate campaigns of material support for the women’s organisations of the struggling and newly independent countries of Africa with the aim of developing their activity. The national women’s organisations of the Soviet Union, Hungary, France, Canada, Australia and other countries are sending the women’s organisations of Africa sewing machines to equip workshops, typewriters for vocational courses, and so forth. The women’s organisations of the USSR, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia provide stipends for African girls and women to study at higher and secondary special educational establishments in their own countries.

p In an attempt to aid African women’s organisations in training cadres and in solving their specific problems the national organisations of some socialist countries hold seminars for African women and also invite delegations from Africa with the aim of acquainting them with their experience in solving similar problems.

p Widely acclaimed international meetings have been held in Africa, including the seminar in Bamako (Mali), organised by the WIDF and the All-African Women’s Conference on Mother-andChild Protection in 1965, seminars in Khartum in February 1970 and in Algiers in 1974 on the combating of illiteracy.

p In addition to its contacts with the women’s organisations of Afro-Asian countries, the Federation offers constant support to the work of AAPSO and takes part in all its international forums. The WIDF sent its representative to the First Afro-Asian Women’s Conference held by AAPSO in Cairo in January 1961, and as member of the International Preparatory 326 Committee made a substantial contribution to the work of the Second Afro-Asian Women’s Conference in Ulan Bator, in August 1972.

p The Federation actively supports the struggle by the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America for national independence against the intrigues of imperialism.

p Since June 1967, when the Arab countries were subjected to Israeli aggression, the Federation has considered it one of its main tasks to promote the most speedy regulation of the Middle East conflict. The WIDF, which from the outset has firmly condemned Israeli aggression against the Arab countries and defended the rights of the Arab people of Palestine, has succeeded in mobilising its national organisations in moral and material support of the victims of aggression.

p WIDF publications have played an important role in the campaign of solidarity with the women and children of Arab countries, and particularly important was the brochure We Have Seen, which uses factual material to show the real reasons for the Middle East conflict. The WIDF has sent many delegations to refugee camps in Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

p In its documents and publications the Federation draws the attention of national organisations and women not belonging to the Federation to the need to realise the Security Council’s resolution of November 22, 1967, on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all occupied territory, the elimination of the consequences of Israeli aggression, the use of all possible means to promote the earliest settlement of the Middle East conflict, and to offer moral and material support to the victims of aggression.

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p The Federation paid special attention to organising solidarity with the just struggle of the Vietnamese people and to providing them with moral and material aid and support. The representatives of women’s organisations in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and in South Vietnam recognised that the Federation had done much for the development of the international women’s movement in providing real support for the patriotic struggle of the people and the women of Vietnam against imperialist aggression.

p In maintaining constant contact and cooperation with the Union of Vietnamese Women and the Union of Women for the Liberation of South Vietnam, the Federation appealed to its national organisations and to wide circles of women to actively take part in the movement of solidarity with the Vietnamese people.

p The WIDF conducted extensive information and propaganda work in order to acquaint the women of the world with the real state of affairs in Vietnam, explained the justice of the demands of the Vietnamese people and consistently condemned the USA’s imperialist aggression. The Federation found diverse means of attracting women into the solidarity movement and initiated meetings of its committee for solidarity with Vietnam and took part in events in support of Vietnam organised by other international bodies.

p There is every reason to say that the Federation, in conjunction with other forces of world opinion, made its contribution to the ending of the war and the establishment of peace in Vietnam.

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p The Helsinki World Congress of Women adopted a resolution to use resources collected by the women of the world to build an institute for protection of mothers and new-born infants in Hanoi, which would be seen as a symbol of the solidarity of the women of all countries in the struggle for the triumph of peace and justice. This project is now being put into practice.

p In connection with the spread of American aggression in Indochina the Federation appealed to its national organisations and to the women of the world to support the just struggle of the peoples of Laos and Cambodia.

p The Federation’s consistent support of the national liberation struggle means that every year more and more women’s organisations in Arab and African countries are taking part in Federation activities. With the aim of drawing broad masses of women of these countries into the ranks of the international women’s democratic movement the Federation intends to undertake a number of measures in this area, such as holding seminars, founding literacy centres, etc.

p The past years have seen an increase in the Federation’s influence in Latin America, witnessed the regional seminars held in Chile (1968), in Mexico (1972) and in Peru (1974) with the active cooperation of the WIDF. These seminars on the position of women and children promoted the unity of progressive forces in Latin America in the struggle for socio-economic changes and stimulated the democratic women’s movement in this part of the world.

After the coup in Chile, which led to the overthrow of Allende’s legally-elected government, 329 the WIDF actively joined the movement of solidarity with the people and democrats of Chile.

p 1975 was declared by the 27th Session of the UN General Assembly to be International Women’s Year—this was on the initiative of the Women’s International Democratic Federation, with the support of a number of other international women’s organisations. With regard to the fact that the problem of discrimination against women in labour, public life and the family is of current importance, they considered that a special year devoted to the status of women would draw the attention of governments and public opinion to these problems.

p The UN programme for the International Women’s Year has three main aims: that this year should be marked by increased activity aimed at attaining equal rights for women; to ensure that women participate in the economic, social and cultural development of their countries and to increase the role of women in the development of friendly relations and cooperation between states and in the strengthening of peace throughout the world.

p In support of these aims, the WIDF and its national organisations have been holding seminars, conferences and symposiums on the status of women and their role in society, in the struggle for national independence, peace and social progress. These problems are on the agenda for the World Congress devoted to International Women’s Year to be held in Berlin (October 20-24, 1975), which, in cooperation 330 with other organisations, the WIDF is actively helping to prepare.

p On the eve of the World Congress, the UN World Conference was held in Mexico as a part of the International Women’s Year. The main theme of the Conference was the struggle for a broad recognition of women’s role and responsibility in society. The agenda included such topics as ensuring genuine equality for women in the economic, political and social life of their countries, making every effort to enhance the role of women in securing peace, in promoting the friendship and cooperation among the nations. The World Conference was aimed at recommendations to further working out the goals set for the International Women’s Year. The conference was attended by representatives from 149 countries and 14 national liberation movements.

p In intensifying its cooperation with the UN and its specialised bodies, the WIDF aims to attain an improvement of the status of women, the implementation of the Declaration on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and other important UN resolutions, and also to achieve the introduction on a national level of progressive legislation on women, and the implementation of existing laws in order to realise the proclaimed equality in practice.

In December 1975, the WIDF will celebrate its 30th anniversary. The road it has travelled and the work it is doing today show that it is a militant, international organisation, in whose ranks millions of women fight for peace and security, for independence and democracy, for the achievement and the realisation of the equality of women.