Results of Policy Day 1999

The 1999 Policy Day produced a number of ripple effects since the launch. Some examples of concrete policy effects emerging as a result of Policy Day include:

• Parade Magazine featured an article on Naela Quadri, a Pakistani delegate, and nuclear testing in Pakistan;
• the White House requested assistance from the network in making connections with women peace builders in Burundi;
• the US Institute of Peace hosted a follow-up discussion in Washington with policy shapers, funders, academics, activists, and journalists in March;
• the State Department has invited Waging to co-host a meeting on sexual trafficking in Kosovo;
• a delegate spoke in Geneva to the UN Commission on Human Rights in April;
• "Beijing Plus Five"will feature Waging as a US government example of action in the area of Women in Conflict (one of the pillars of the Beijing Platform for Action);
• Waging is an agenda item for the G8 summit in July;
• International Alert is connecting their Women Building Peace campaign with Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace;
• Waging will be present at the Millenium Summit and the State of the World Forum to be held in September;
• a Colombian delegate will represent Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace at the ministerial meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC, in April;
• the US Navy and Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace will co-sponsor a major public forum called "New Alliances: International Security and Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace," to be held in New York during Beijing Plus Five (June 2000);
• Senator Barbara Mikulski met with a Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace delegate in Northern Ireland to discuss educational programs;
• the initiative was presented at the United Nations symposium "Women Uniting for Peace: International Women�s Day"on March 8^th

"Women Uniting for Peace: International Women�s Day"

On Wednesday, March 8, 2024 the UN held a special event entitled "Women Uniting for Peace" on the occasion of International Women�s Day 2000. The centerpiece of the celebration was the exchange of experiences by women who are making a difference in resolving conflicts in many regions of the world. The speakers called for women to have a stronger voice and role in peace negotiations and peace-building strategies. The special event, which took the form of a town hall meeting, was moderated by Daljit Dhaliwal, television anchor at ITN in London, and Carol Jenkins, NY news anchor and talk show host.

Secretary General Kofi Annan opened the event. Statements were also made by Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Anwarul Karim Chowdhury (Bangladesh), in his capacity as current President of the Security Council; and Kensaku Hogen, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke about the condition of civilians worldwide as victims of warfare. He commented that women are better equipped to resolve conflict than men. Women play a critical role in preventing deadly conflict, he said, building bridges rather than walls, and women often play an intermediary role, providing support for peacemakers. Civilian gender affairs units now exist in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and East Timor. In closing, the Secretary-general strongly asserted that qualified women are needed in peacemaking and conflict resolution.

During the discussion segment, Swanee Hunt, (Chair of Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace) addressed the audience. She illustrated the way women are able to cross the lines of conflict with a personal story about a meeting in Tuzla with women survivors from Srebrenica who were planning a commemoration for the thousands of men and boys that they had lost. She asked them if they could invite the Serb women who had also lost their sons; they responded, �We are all mothers.� During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, over 40 women�s groups organized in the region.

Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace member and former member of the Human Rights Violations Committee at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, spoke about her findings from the Commission. The Commission had been established to break the cycles of violence in a country ravaged by years of conflict. Women, according to Gobodo-Madikizela, played a crucial role in that process. Women were able to reach out to their perpetrators in a most amazing way and offer forgiveness. There had been no precedent for first-generation victims forgiving their perpetrators. Gobodo-Madikizela said she had seen many mothers look perpetrators in the eye and say, �You could have been my child and I forgive you.� Some even invited the perpetrators to work together to build communities.

Other Speakers included:

• Nora Ahmetaj, Women in Black (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia),
• Adiatu Teresa Deigh, The Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organization (SLYEO), Sierra Leone.
• Kishali Pinto Jayawardene, Women and Media Collective, Sri Lanka.
• Eugenia Piza Lopez, International Alert.
• Mayerly Sanchez, 15-year old Colombian, from the Children�s Movement for Peace.
• Zohreh Tabatabi, Focal Point for Women in the UN Secretariat (speaking on behalf of Angela King).

return to top