We March against Wars and Capitalism, We Defend the Sovereignty of Peoples and ‘Buen Vivir’!

On 18 February 2025, the World March of Women launched its 6th International Action with the slogan “We march against wars and capitalism. We defend the sovereignty of peoples and ‘buen vivir’”. Around the world, thousands of women mobilised in the streets and on social media, gathered for training sessions and working groups, and developed common analyses and agendas with allied movements, using all the channels available to us to draw attention to the issues we condemn and our proposals for a better world.

 In 2025, the World March of Women set out to raise awareness of its political achievements and renew its commitment to our slogan “We will continue to march until we are all free”.

It was a year full of challenges. The terrible events in Nepal in September forced us to suspend the closing event that we had planned. More than 100 World March of Women activists had to cancel their journeys, but we did not falter. Our regional coordinating bodies rose to the occasion, organising a programme of events that was just as powerful, if not more. These are dark times, but the World March of Women has proven that it is capable of adapting and rising to the challenge.

At our regional and international meetings, we concluded that we are living in an era in which the evils of the capitalist, patriarchal, colonial system are becoming more acute. A war economy is being imposed, our rights and struggles are being criminalised, the influence of transnational corporate power on the multilateral system is becoming more apparent, and the advance of religious fundamentalism and neoliberal fascism are a threat not only to women, but to human rights more broadly. We understand the current context as a multidimensional crisis, affecting the climate, biodiversity, food, and care. In other words, the capitalist, patriarchal, colonial system has stepped up its attacks against life.

In a world where war is taking hold, as a grassroots feminist, internationalist, anti-systemic movement, we consider it our responsibility to continue to defend peace – not just any peace, but peace with dignity and sovereignty.

We condemn the genocide of the Palestinian people and the complicity, silence, and inaction of the international institutions in response. Today, louder than ever, we chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will live”. We condemn the silent genocides perpetrated against the people of Haiti among others.

We condemn the ongoing occupation in Western Sahara, where the Saharawi people continue to resist Moroccan repression while living under violence, restricted freedoms, and decades of displacement in refugee camps, as their land and natural resources are exploited without their consent.

We denounce the wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the greed of corporate powers fuels endless conflicts over minerals, forcing women to endure horrific sexual violence, displacement, and the loss of their livelihoods and dignity, the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which has devastated communities, displaced millions, and exposed women and girls to extreme insecurity, hunger, and gender-based violence, while Mozambique continues to face conflict and terrorist attacks alongside post-election violence that has reportedly caused more deaths.

We stand in solidarity with the women of Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Libya, Nigeria, Madagascar and Cameroon, who continue to face displacement, repression, and exclusion from peace processes, yet rise every day with courage and resilience to demand justice, peace, and freedom.

We condemn conventional wars, but we also speak out against new forms of war, such as cyber wars, communication wars, cognitive wars, psychological wars, and hybrid wars. We condemn the political and economic blockades whose sole purpose is to subdue the sovereignty of peoples, such as those in Venezuela and Cuba. 

We condemn the militarization of the Caribbean and the extrajudicial killings carried out by the US Navy in its attempts to find new territories for war. 

We condemn violence against women, which is structural, global, and intersectional. From sexual violence in conflict zones to the criminalisation of activists, patriarchal violence is used to silence and control women’s bodies and curtail their right to live full and happy lives.

We reject the exploitation of women’s labour, especially unpaid caregiving. We demand recognition and decent working conditions and pay for all work. We defend land, water, and natural resources from corporate plunder and colonial extraction. We speak out against land grabbing, control over water, and privatisation of seeds. 

We call on all grassroots organisations to stand up against neoliberal policies and capitalism and to adopt the feminist economy as a strategy to change the world. The feminist economy is a philosophy, practice, and political proposal that recognises the network of life and interdependence between people and nature as an ethical alternative to state-sponsored extractivism and corporate capture.  We join allied movements in the struggle for land, for a socially just energy transition, for food sovereignty, and against false solutions to the climate crisis.

We must now:

• Strengthen our memory and political coherence as a movement through documentary reconstruction and collective debate.
• Reaffirm the feminist economy as a political horizon that goes beyond the sphere of care.
• Confront structural violence against women with common actions.
• Condemn the multiple forms of war and militarisation that are present across the planet.
• Build ‘buen vivir’ for people around the world based on popular sovereignty, harmony with the planet, and solidarity.
• Strengthen feminist internationalism.

With the clarity of our convictions and our political vision, as our 6th International Action draws to a close, we reaffirm our unwavering dedication to continue strengthening grassroots feminist networks around the world until we are all free. 

World March of Women – October, 2025