women and men working in partnership

New bridges to peace

by Lesley Abdela
FYI - circulated by Lesley Abdela's office
January 2002

Last April, 40 women leaders from international organisations, the US Government, the Military, Academia and local NGOs met at a 2-day seminar conducted by the Washington DC-based organisation Women In International Security (WIIS). The full notes can be accessed on www.wiis.org/whatsnew.htm Speakers included Fatima Gailani of the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, Shirin Tahir-Kheli of Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Defence, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, and the UN's Funmi Olonisakin. Excerpt: 'Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge cited many examples of women's exclusion from the formal peacebuilding process: "At the Dayton Peace Talks there were no women present in the regional delegations. At Rambouillet there was one Kosovar woman. At Arusha, the women's delegation only had observer status. There is a serious discontinuity here as women are very active in grassroots peacebuilding organisations. The exclusion of women from peacekeeping, peacemaking and decision-making in the aftermath of war means that peace is not achieved or it fails to address key issues - in these situations, peace is not meaningful."' 'One of the main conclusions of the workshop was that women need to bridge the gap between grassroots organizations and governments by incorporating the knowledge women's NGOs have gained on the ground into formal policymaking processes... Funmi Olonisakin (United Nations) argued "The potential for women to contribute to conflict-prevention strategies must be translated to vital political roles at the highest levels of governance"'

lesley.abdela@shevolution.com

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