Policy Highlights in Europe

Vienna Policy Meeting
Austria, July 2002

Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan and Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace Experts Meeting in Sarajevo
Her Majesty Queen Noor and ten women peace builders met with domestic government representatives and international policymakers... processes.

Mobilized Mothers
In May 2001, Waging held a series of events to highlight the work of activists who are linking the passion and power of mothers with public policy initiatives. The name of this iniative was Mobilized Mothers. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (South Africa), Atema Eclai (Kenya), and Ida Kuklina (Russia) participated in a day of meetings with policy shapers in Washington, DC, to highlight their peacemaking work to organize women around their common identity as mothers. They shared their strategies for grassroots campaigns and advocacy on behalf of children internationally with the Children's Defense Fund, co-hosted a briefing for members of Congress with Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and participated in an evening forum co-sponsored by Amnesty International and Women in International Security highlighting ways mothers and policymakers can work together to identify new methods for building sustainable peace. In Cambridge, the Mobilized Mothers led a panel discussion entitled A New American Foreign Policy for the Twenty-First Century at the Harvard University-wide Colloquium on International Affairs, hosted at Harvard Law School. US Congressman Michael Capuano (D-MA) concluded the panel by discussing how the work of women can influence US foreign policy.

Women In Peace Building Meeting in Berlin
In March 2001, Waging co-hosted a meeting entitled "Women in Peace Building" with the Aspen Institute in Berlin. Key officials from the Foreign Ministry joined Waging core network members and staff for discussions on the role of women in conflict resolution and prevention and methods to promote the role of women in multilateral organizations, including the UN Security Council and G8.

Interfaith Coalitions: Lessons from Bosnian Women
As a result of a discussion between Ken Longmyer from the Department of State and others at Policy Day 2000, ten Bosnian women religious leaders of Muslim, Serb Orthodox, Jewish, and Roman Catholic communities came to Harvard's Kennedy School for a week-long gathering in February 2001. "Interfaith Coalitions: Lessons from Bosnian Women" included a meeting with 30 policy makers - government officials, leaders of non-governmental organizations, and academics - for a policy discussion on the role of religious women in the peace building process. The concrete ideas for building a sustainable peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina that were proposed at this meeting were developed further at a follow-up conference in Sarajevo in March 2001.

Women In Politics Seminar
In December 2000, core network members from the post-Yugoslav region and Waging staff hosted a two-day seminar on Women in Politics in Belgrade, Yugoslavia to assist in the political empowerment of women from throughout the post-Yugoslav region. Chaired by Ambassador Hunt, the seminar featured discussions on the significance of women in politics, the importance of elections, and the interaction of economic development and politics.

Meeting of Women in Russian Politics
In September 2000, Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace hosted a meeting in Russia of over 60 women involved in Russian politics to develop strategies for pressuring the Russian government to include women as peace builders in their G8 plan. Waging leadership also met with various government officials, ambassadors, key players from NGOs, and women in politics, as well as the Head of Division of the Department of International Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrei A. Nikiforov, who expressed interest in seeing ties between Waging and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs deepened.

Women for Peace: A Success Story from Macedonia
In September 2000, Waging staff visited Germany to co-host "Women for Peace: A Success Story from Macedonia" with the Aspen Institute/Transatlantic Center. This meeting included policymakers, government officials, journalists, corporate leaders, funders, and academics, who examined the ways in which the German government could support the peace building and stabilizing activities of women domestically and internationally.

Meeting With Kosovar Women
Ambassador Hunt was in Kosovo in September 2000 to co-lead (with a Waging member and present government official) a strategic planning process for 35 Kosovar women leaders and officials from the UN, OSCE, NATO, and other members of the international community. The session resulted in a plan of action for Kosovar women to address major issues in their society, including concrete steps in which both ethnic Serb and ethnic Albanian women can join forces to create constructive changes in Kosovo.

New Alliances: International Security and Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace
In June 2000, Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace and the 92nd Street Y, a major Jewish community and cultural center in New York, hosted a public forum entitled "New Alliances: International Security and Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace". Keynote speakers included Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan; General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander of Europe; and Leon Fuerth, National Security Advisor to Vice President Al Gore. Addressing a gathering of almost 1000, women peace builders from seven conflict areas discussed their work. The event was covered by the C-Span television network.

In addition to the experts meeting, Her Majesty Queen Noor met with Waging core members in the post-Yugoslav region and women religious leaders who participated in the "Interfaith Coalition: A New Resource for Bosnia" conferences in Cambridge and Sarajevo this February and March. Her Majesty traveled across the Balkans during the week and used every public opportunity to profile the work that Waging is doing, both regionally and globally.

Plan for Action to Combat Sexual Trafficking
In April 2000, Waging members from Kosovo and Bosnia met with 37 officials at the US Department of State to craft a concrete plan for action to combat sexual trafficking as a financial source for organized crime. Since then, Waging members from the post-Yugoslav region have been working with the FBI, Interpol, and the UN to establish police training.

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