Skip to main content
Regional secretary with the National Education Union
70 years of the World Peace Council
LIZ PAYNE pays tribute to the WPC and its struggle against imperialist aggression as it enters its eighth decade this weekend

THIS weekend, the World Peace Council (WPC) is marking the 70th anniversary of its foundation and seven decades as an international mass organisation of struggle against imperialism and war and for peace and justice, in solidarity with all peace-loving people of the world.

At a recent meeting of its secretariat in Belgrade, WPC president Socorro Gomes said: “I would like to celebrate with you the long and brave path of our peace organisation, with its history of struggle and resistance … [It] remains committed to building ever more bridges, today and tomorrow, for the unity of the anti-imperialist, democratic and peace forces against oppression, colonialism, wars and domination.”

From April 20-24 1949 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, 2,000 delegates from 75 countries gathered for the first World Congress of Partisans for Peace, which was shortly to be renamed the WPC. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow, to launch the Strategic Defence Review, June 2, 2025
War & Austerity / 19 June 2025
19 June 2025

LIZ PAYNE condemns how Labour backs war in Gaza and Ukraine, and massive funding for Trident’s nuclear bombs, when billions are needed just to restore public services

ABANDONNED BY THE WEST: Amani Abu Zarada, fourth from left,
Features / 24 December 2024
24 December 2024
If we want to take on war in 2025, we must take on our own governments in the West, and most of all, take on Nato, writes the convener of the British Peace Assembly, LIZ PAYNE
A young girl takes part in a sombre lantern ceremony for the
Hiroshima Day 2024 / 6 August 2024
6 August 2024
LIZ PAYNE draws the parallels between 1945’s atomic horrors and today's conflicts, calling for mass resistance to Western aggression and a renewed push for global disarmament
This image taken from a video released by the Ukrainian Tsun
Features / 19 June 2024
19 June 2024
LIZ PAYNE explains that the only valid political demand over the conflict in Ukraine is that it is brought to an end as quickly as possible
Similar stories
OLD WORLD ORDER: A police helicopter flies near the moon dur
Features / 28 January 2025
28 January 2025
A multipolar world is emerging where a number of countries of the global South are now using their growing economic power and political importance to demand reform of the post-WWII order, argues DAVID CAVENDISH
ABANDONNED BY THE WEST: Amani Abu Zarada, fourth from left,
Features / 24 December 2024
24 December 2024
If we want to take on war in 2025, we must take on our own governments in the West, and most of all, take on Nato, writes the convener of the British Peace Assembly, LIZ PAYNE
DEADLY MEDDLING: Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on t
Features / 17 December 2024
17 December 2024
In a statement, the secretariat of the World Peace Council condemns the recent developments in and around Syria, which are the grim results of years of US, Turkish and Russian meddling in Syrian affairs
CELEBRATING RED CHINA:
China 75 celebrations held by the
Com
Features / 30 September 2024
30 September 2024
As the People's Republic turns 75, ROBERT GRIFFITHS details how British communists championed Chinese sovereignty against imperialism, weathering the political storms of the Sino-Soviet split and collapse of the USSR to rebuild relations for the modern era