Americas Regional Meeting
Guatemala, September 2002

"In Guatemala, we weren't prepared for peace. So, my Colombian friends, think about this now. Now is the time to build social supports among women that will be necessary after peace is negotiated."

Luz Mendez, a member of the high-level Comisión de Acompañamiento that oversees and promotes the implementation of the Guatemalan peace accords, gave that advice to Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace members from Colombia, Guatemala, and the United States during a meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, in September 2002. Thirteen women peace builders gathered there to exchange strategies, support each other's work, and meet with regional policymakers to discuss how best to incorporate women into all levels of the peace processes in the region.

The women's experiences ranged across the political, academic, and civil society spheres. Nancy Tapias Torrado, director of the Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, and Peace Program at Javeriana University in Colombia, described busloads of women who converged in Bogotá from all over the country, some traveling more than 20 hours to join a peace demonstration she helped organize. This is not work one takes up lightly: the son of one of the organizers was kidnapped the morning of the march.

The Guatemalan members of Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace reported on their research on the dangers of impunity: allowing perpetrators of crimes against humanity not only to remain at large but even hold high office. Others reported on their advocacy for the basic human rights of indigenous women, the majority of whom are illiterate, live on less than $2 a day, and have virtually no access to health care.

The Colombians, in turn, had questions for their hosts about how to work post-conflict with people who were forced into paramilitary service, and they compared notes on women's role in politics. They also shared tips on strategic planning and practiced ways to present themselves and their work to policymakers.

The meeting culminated in a gathering hosted by the US Embassy, where some 40 policy shapers spent the afternoon listening to the women's views on the conflicts in their countries. Two of the participants, classmates at law school, had not seen or spoken to each other for 16 years until the meeting, separated by the violence and political divisions that defined life in Guatemala for decades.

Ambassador Swanee Hunt summarized the afternoon, saying, "The chaos of conflict can provide an opportunity for a new level of inclusion of women. We see this time and again around the world, across cultural and geographic boundaries. Today's elected officials, military leaders, and other policy shapers are beginning to recognize the benefit - and the necessity - of including women in peace processes."

see also:
Photo Gallery of the Americas Regional Meeting

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