Washington, DC—“Women, Peace, and Security in the Americas” is the subject of a videoconference to be held Thursday, July 17 as a joint initiative of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) and the Washington office of Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace.

The two-hour videoconference runs from 9:30AM to 11:30AM at the OAS General Secretariat Building, 1889 F St, in northwest Washington, DC.

Participants will examine the integration of a gender perspective into hemispheric security issues and women’s contribution to peacemaking and peace building in the Americas.

The discussion will be moderated by Carmen Lomellin, Executive Secretary of CIM, an OAS specialized agency, with panelists including Luz Méndez, General Coordinator of the National Union of Guatemalan Women; Gloria Guzmán, Director of Las Dignas, El Salvador; Edelma Gómez Blanco, Coordinator of the Rural Judicial Facilitator Program of Nicaragua; Martha Eugenia Segura, Director of the Colombian Confederation of NGOs; and Ambassador Miguel Ruiz-Cabañas, Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, who is also Chairman of the OAS’ Committee on Hemispheric Security.

The videoconference will be webcast live over the OAS website at: http://www.oas.org/OASpage/Livetransmissions.htm