Women's International Democratic Federation


Women's International Democratic Federation is an international organization that professes to work for women's rights, which was established in 1945 and most active during the Cold War. Its initially identified areas of concern included anti-fascism, world peace, child welfare and improving the status of women. During the Cold War era, it was described as Communist-leaning and pro-Soviet. International Day for Protection of Children, observed in many countries as Children's Day on June 1 since 1950, is said to have been established by the Federation on its November 1949 congress in Moscow. The WIDF published a monthly magazine, Women of the Whole World, in English, French, Spanish, German, and Russian, with occasional issues in Arabic.
WIDF was founded in Paris in 1945, but it was later banned by French authorities and relocated to East Berlin, where it was supported by the East German government. Its first president was Eugenie Cotton, and its founding members included Tsola Dragoycheva and Ana Pauker. Later leaders included the Australian Freda Brown. The WIDF was one of the largest and "probably most influential international women's organizations of the post-1945 era" in the eastern bloc. At various points in its history, the WIDF enjoyed consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It was at the initiation of representatives of the WIDF in the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations that the UN declared the International Women's Year in 1975.
After the end of the Cold War, the organization lost its funding and most of its importance and membership as a result of the downfall of its primary sponsors, East Germany and the Soviet Union. The organization that exists today under this name has its secretariat in São Paulo, Brazil. Philippine Congresswoman, Liza Maza, is the regional coordinator of WIDF in Asia.

Cold War

During the Cold War, the Congress of American Women was the affiliate organization of the WIDF in the United States. In 1949, members of the Congress of American Women were targeted by the Committee on Un-American Activities of the House of Representatives. In HUAC's report, the WIDF was named as a "communist front" organization, less interested in advanced women's rights than supporting Soviet foreign policy. WIDF was banned by French authorities and subsequently moved its headquarters from Paris to East Berlin. It also lost its consultative status with the United Nations.
Scholars have subsequently argued that the WIDF was an active feminist organization advocating for women's rights, and that "Cold War" stereotypes continue to impact the legacy of this organization, effectively erasing it from the history of international women's movements. Despite the Cold War context, the WIDF played an important role in supporting women's anti-colonial struggles in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Affiliates