MEDIA AVAILABILITY

FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRIA CONVENES POLICYMAKERS AND WOMEN PEACE BUILDERS
ON THE 4TH OF JULY

On July 4th, as Americans celebrate the ideals of democracy and inclusion behind the founding of their country while the FBI warns them to be on guard against possible terrorist threats, 35 women peace builders will meet in Vienna with European and American policymakers to offer innovative alternatives to violent conflict. The women peace builders will discuss action steps to ensure their full participation in the peace processes with policymakers from the OSCE, UN, European and US governments, European NGOs, and diplomatic corps.

Experts in the Women Waging Peace network from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, post-Yugoslav region, Northern Ireland, Armenia/Azerbaijan, Russia, and Cyprus are participating in the July 4th meeting. They will insist on action on major policy resolutions from the United Nations, European Union, OSCE, and G-8 that call for the full inclusion of women in the peace process at the local, regional, and international levels but have yet to be adequately implemented.

Among policymakers addressing the group are:

• Elisabeth Rehn, Co-author of the Independent Expert Assessment of UNIFEM (the UN Development Fund for Women), former Finnish Minister of Defense, and former UN Special Representative of the Secretary General and Coordinator of UN Operations in Bosnia
• Monica McWilliams, Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and co-founder of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition

Dr. Swanee Hunt, former US Ambassador to Austria, now at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, returns to Vienna to lead this unique forum where women peace builders will propose innovative strategies and a new paradigm of inclusive security that aims to stop violent conflict by bridging ethnic, religious, and cultural divides. Not only in positions of formal power, but also working at the grassroots level where peace agreements are lived out, Women Waging Peace network leaders offer a valuable perspective too often excluded from official processes.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY, 12:30-14:00, JULY 4
Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Favoritenstrasse 15a, 1040 Vienna

To register, please contact Maria Carroll on 0664/639 3332.

Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace (www.womenwagingpeace.net) is a global network of peace builders based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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