Asia Regional Meeting
Kathmandu, Nepal
June 2001

The Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace network held its second regional meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, on June 28-31, 2001. Highlights of the meeting included:

• A policy discussion led by Cambodian member Nanda Pok, executive director of Women for Prosperity. She spoke to the group about the many tools she uses in her training of women for policy action. A general discussion followed about Waging policy work and its effect on the Asian region. Participants were enthusiastic about the practical, skills-building nature of the meeting and the opportunity for dialogue.
• Introduction of “Mapping from the Margins” Concept. Conference participants mapped out the conflicts in South Asia from a gendered perspective, creating visual representations that reflect their own experience. Rita Manchanda, who developed this concept, describes the maps as highly personal and a vehicle for challenging state-centric representations of conflict and borders. She sees the mapping process as a catalyst for discussion and new understandings of conflicts: "This is the newest and most exciting element of what I've been doing. Initially there is some resistance to the idea of "mapping," but when they start doing it, their creative energy flows. First, it's pain and then it's creative vision, a vision of the future. Each map is very different and is a new means [for the mapmaker] to understand her own conflict. It is also a means of translating the reality of her own conflict to someone else. The "mapping" process at this conference was done by women on-site together in groups and was very creative. It worked for them, so I think they'll take the concept back with them and use it in workshops and their own communities."

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