Women's Pentagon Action, 1980
Logo of the Women's Pentagon Action

Why this project is called "Women and Life on Earth"

Several women involved in the first WLOE joined with others to launch a Women and Life on Earth internet project to connect women internationally, share information and support changes necessary to ensure life and peace with justice in the new millennium. In August 1999 a first meeting was held in western Massachusetts. An international board of advisors was formed, and work began on a multilingual site supporting information, analysis and actions.

The advisory board approved the following goals:
We want:
• to cut through the blockade of mainstream media using e-mail and internet, as well as word of mouth and creative non-violent direct action;
• to recognize and promote the experience and knowledge of women and movements, locally and world-wide, in our work for:

PEACE, countering the multiple assaults on people and the natural world.

ECOLOGY supporting production for sustainability; safe food, air and water free of chemical, genetic or atomic pollution; preventing environmental -- including climate -- disasters through renewable energy use, conservation of energy and natural resources, sustainable transport, construction, development and lifestyles;

GLOBAL JUSTICE opposing corporate control and cultural destruction world-wide. For social and economic justice.

The war in Kosovo erupted soon afterwards, and the new network began to share  messages and news between women and civil society groups in Serbia and Kosovo, Europe and North America.

In 2001 the project moved to Berlin, Germany, with coordinator Anna Gyorgy. The 'war on terror' that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq gave further proof of the need for international communication and solidarity for peace with justice. As the Women and Life on Earth project grew, its volunteer staff contributed to the world-wide movement for peace through communication and translation of women's statements and actions.

E-newsletters and alerts went to women and groups in many countries. Website development continued in English, German, and Spanish by volunteer editors and interns.

WLOE e.V.: In September 2003, a German non-profit association was founded in Berlin: "Women and Life on Earth: women in international cooperation for peace, ecology and social justice e.V." WLOE e.V. had an office in Berlin until 2008, then moved to Bonn through 2012. The work focused on women and biodiversity, climate change and peace without NATO, and the group took on various translation and organizing projects. In 2011 WLOE members did the German subtitles and website section for the documentary The Economics of Happiness and organized the film's premiere in Berlin.

In November 2012, members decided to close the association and continue as an international working group to expand the website and networking. The files of the association were transferred to the women's research, education and information archive FFBIZ in Berlin. They include many valuable books, and over a decade of clippings, original materials, reports and publications in English and German reflecting women's work on environmental, peace and globalization issues, and information important to women and their communities.

In 2016 the WLOE internet project found a new 'home,' as a sponsored project of the Western Massachusetts based Traprock Center for Peace & Justice.

Those of us working on this site and growing network hope to connect and work with women around the globe, under the motto borrowed from activist-writer Alice Walker: "Anything We Love Can Be Saved."


last updated: April 22, 2016