Triennial Conference

Preparations for the next WRI Triennial in São Leopoldo, Brazil, are now well under way. The last Triennial Committee meeting on 25 March discussed the main elements of the programme, which consists of a mixture of small meetings and larger sessions. While morning plenaries will be kept relatively short with a world news summary, one speaker, and logistical announcements and explanations, the end-of-day plenaries will feature presentations by several speakers on six different themes: from economic oppression to economic justice; WRI's development since the last Triennial; the meaning of solidarity between women for the nonviolent movement; war crimes and social healing; the UN; and nonviolent alternatives to the military.

At the core of the programme will be several "theme groups". Each group will meet for five sessions in order to allow participants to pursue their subject in depth and incorporate elements of the on-going plenaries and workshops into their discussion. The topics identified for the theme groups are: women working against militarism and violence; a cross-cultural exchange on nonviolence training; conscription and strategies around conscientious objection; racism, nationalism, ethnic conflict and indigenous people; transition to democracy; daily violence; social and urban insecurity; alternatives to arms: direct nonviolent intervention and social defence; militarisation and the environment; and strategies for an economics of justice.

A list of workshops will be drawn up during the summer. Most of them will probably be scheduled in the first half of the week to leave space for the inclusion of spontaneous or networking workshops as the conference progresses.

We hope this sneak preview into the Triennial programme will inspire you to participate and start raise the money to get there. We also hope that in light of our commitment to strengthening WRI's links with the region and helping others connect, some of you will consider sponsoring one or several of our participants. This system of sponsorship worked very effectively for the 1992 WRI Women's conference in Bangkok and in addition to contribute to the success and representativeness of the next Triennial, it could also allow you to initiate fruitful contacts with peace activists from a given region. If you are interested in helping out in this (or any other) way, please contact the office in London. We will give you more details about resource persons or other participants in need of funds for travel and attendance.