Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX 30th) Introduces a U.S. House Resolution on women, peace and security

APOLOGIES FOR DELAYED NEWSLETTER

The PeaceWomen team would like to take this opportunity to apologize for our delayed send-out of the 32nd issue of 1325 PeaceWomen E-News.

Since we were unable to send out this issue to coincide with the 3rd anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325 last week, we will be issuing next week a supplementary 1325 PeaceWomen E-Newsletter focused on the events that took place to mark the anniversary. These events included:

* Working lunch on “UNSC Resolution 1325: Implications of the Resolution and Integration into NGO Advocacy,” co-sponsored by the NGO Working Group on the Security Council, Amnesty International and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom UN Office (17 October 2003)
* UN Security Council Open Debate on women, peace and security (29 October 2003)
-The statements that were made by member states are available at: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/SCOpenDebate2003/OpenDebate2003index.html
* Inter-Agency Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security: Iraq, Liberia and DRC (30 October 2003)
* Launch of UNIFEM's Women, War and Peace Web Portal – see #1 below (30 October 2003)
* Re-launch of PeaceWomen.org - see #1 below (30 October 2003)
* Premiere of “PEACE by PEACE: Women on the Frontlines,” a film by PEACE x PEACE (30 October 2003)
* Panel discussion on “Impact of 1325 – Reality or Fiction?”, organized by the Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues (OSAGI), the Department of Political Affairs and the Inter-Agency Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security (31 October 2003)

1. ANNOUNCING A NEW WEB PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNIFEM'S WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE WEB PORTAL AND WILPF's PEACEWOMEN.ORG
www.womenwarpeace.org and www.peacewomen.org

October 31st 2003 marked the 3rd anniversary of the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. The night before, the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the PeaceWomen Project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) UN Office, launched a women, peace and security web partnership via UNIFEM's Women, War and Peace Web Portal and WILPF's PeaceWomen.org website.

UNIFEM's Women, War and Peace Web Portal is intended to promote a systematic flow of accurate and timely information about the impact of armed conflict on women and women's role in peace-building to, and among, national and international actors working on these issues.

To achieve these ends, UNIFEM's web portal currently features gender analysis of armed conflict situations in the profiles of more than 30 countries and thematic profiles of key women, peace and security themes.

For UNIFEM's country profiles, visit: http://www.womenwarpeace.org/conflict.htm

For UNIFEM's thematic profiles, visit: http://www.womenwarpeace.org/issue.htm

To complement UNIFEM's web portal, WILPF's PeaceWomen Project has re-launched PeaceWomen.org to include more than 40 gendered conflict country profiles and key women, peace and security thematic profiles (see countries and themes below). In this new partnership, PeaceWomen.org now hosts:

NEWS: Timely, country-specific news stories about women, peace and security issues from and on the countries profiled.

PEACEBUILDING INITIATIVES: A compilation of in-country, regional, international and global initiatives organized by women, and women and men in partnership, on a variety of issues, including peace-building, conflict prevention, refugees, HIV/AIDS in the context of war, and governance, among others.

DATABASE OF ORGANIZATIONS: A database of in-country, regional and international women's organizations working on peace and security issues, including detailed contact information, located in the countries profiled;

RESOURCES: Civil society, UN and government documents on the countries and thematic issues profiled.
For PeaceWomen's country and thematic index, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/WPS/Index.html

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO) WEB RING

While the PeaceWomen Project is the primary NGO web partner in UNIFEM's web portal, in recognition of the vast and diverse community of civil society actors working on women, peace and security issues, PeaceWomen.org features an NGO web ring, linking PeaceWomen.org to the following NGOs:

o African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
o African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)
o Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APFWLD)
o Center for Women's Global Leadership
o Equality Now
o Human Rights Watch (HRW) Women's Rights Division
o International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)
o International Alert
o International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC)
o ISIS- Women's International Cross- Cultural Exchange (ISIS-WICCE)
o Madre
o Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
o Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)
o Women Waging Peace

CREATING WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY COMMUNITY

In preparation for the re-launch of PeaceWomen.org, the PeaceWomen team sought input from other organizations regarding news sources and stories, initiatives, organizations and resources. As this partnership has just begun, the PeaceWomen team continues to welcome the expertise and experiences of women and men working on women, peace and security issues.

Please send any contact information for organizations working on women, peace and security issues, and any resources- civil society and NGO reports and statements, UN reports, governmental reports, books and articles- that you think ought to be included to kara@peacewomen.org.

If your organization or any partner organization has organized, or is currently organizing initiatives on women, peace and security issues, we welcome any description, stories or key findings from your experience for our compilation. Please send any information to Lupe Bardelli at lupeb@peacewomen.org.

Please send news resources and listservs to sarah@peacewomen.org.

In addition, if there are countries which you believe ought to be profiled which are not listed below, PeaceWomen will gladly consider adding them to the list. Please send any country suggestions or comments about our country list to info@peacewomen.org.

COUNTRIES

AFRICA

North Africa:
Western Sahara

West Africa:
Cote D'Ivoire
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Nigeria
Sierra Leone

Great Lakes:
Burundi
Central African Republic (CAR)
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Rwanda
Uganda

East Africa/Horn:
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Somalia
Sudan

Southern Africa:
Angola
Zimbabwe

CARIBBEAN
Haiti

CENTRAL/ SOUTH AMERICA
Brazil
Colombia
Guatemala

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE (CEE)/COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (CIS):
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Chechnya
Cyprus
Georgia
Kosovo
Macedonia
Tajikistan

MIDDLE EAST/WEST ASIA
Afghanistan
Iraq
Lebanon
Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) - Israel

SOUTH ASIA
Burma – Myanmar
Cambodia
India
Kashmir
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka

SOUTH EAST ASIA/PACIFIC
Acheh (Indonesia)
Bougainville (Papua New Guinea)
Fiji
Solomon Islands
Timor-Leste

THEMES

o Conflict Prevention and Early Warning
o Demobilization, Disarmament, Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRRR)
o Displacement
o Economic Rights
o Governance and Elections
o Health
o HIV/AIDS
o Human Rights Violations and Violence Against Women
o Human Security
o Justice and Reconciliation
o Organizing for Conflict Resolution and Peace
o Peace Negotiations
o Peacekeeping
o Racial Discrimination
o Reconstruction
o Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)

We are currently working on a number of new country and thematic profiles to be added to the site in the coming months. Please, watch for these additions to our website.

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2. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

With the re-launch of PeaceWomen.org, the PeaceWomen website now provides women, peace and security news on and from more than 40 countries in conflict as well as an international news index on women, peace and security issues.

For PeaceWomen's country-specific news pages, click here.
For PeaceWomen's international news index, click here.

THOUSANDS OF WOMEN ASSAULTED; NEW FIGHTING IN EASTERN DR OF CONGO, UN SAYS
November 4, 2003 – (UN) Thousands of women and girls between the ages of 5 and 80 in the eastern area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been tortured and raped and many are nursing bullet wounds, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today.

SPEAKERS HIGHLIGHT INCREASING ROLE OF WOMEN IN ENDING WARS
November 3, 2003 – (UN Wire) U.N. officials and activists last week marked the anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security by highlighting the contributions women are making to national reconciliation and the role Resolution 1325 plays in promoting that goal.

WOMEN'S SECURITY MUST BE PRIORITY FOR UPCOMING LOYA JIRGA IN AFGHANISTAN
November 3, 2003 – (Rights and Democracy News Release) The Afghanistan Transitional Authority (ATA) must take immediate measures to ensure women attending December's Constitutional Grand Council, or Loya Jirga, can do so without fear for their safety, says Rights & Democracy.

EX-GUATEMALAN REBEL TRIES HER HAND AT DEMOCRACY
November 2, 2003 – (NYT) Makrina Gudiel gave up her identity to survive.

US PROPOSAL FOR WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION HOLLOW - GROUPS
October 27, 2003 - (IPS) Women's rights groups are accusing the United States of paying lip service to the rights of women after it tabled an initiative on women's political participation at the United Nations General Assembly.

WOMEN TAKE NEARLY HALF OF RWANDAN STATE SEATS
October 23 2003 - (AP) Rwanda's historic elections sent the world's highest share of women to parliament, knocking long-time champion Sweden from the top spot, the Inter-Parliamentary Union said on Wednesday. Rwanda's women now occupy 48,8 percent of the seats.

REFUGEE FROM ACEH: FARIDAH'S STORY
October 23, 2003 – (Asia Times) When her husband died in January, Faridah (not her real name) fled with her two-and-a-half-year-old son from the province of Aceh in Indonesia's northwest. The heart attack that killed her husband was, according to Faridah, brought on by the stress of being hounded by the Indonesian military.

INTERVIEW WITH NOBEL LAUREATE SHIRIN EBADI
October 21, 2003 – (IRIN) Shirin Ebadi arrived back in Iran a week ago to a rapturous welcome after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and immediately called for the release of all political prisoners. The country's first female judge, she has campaigned for women's and children's rights for over 20 years and has been responsible for reform in family laws. In an interview with IRIN in Tehran, Ebadi said the prize belonged to all those working for peaceful change and that there is no contradiction between Islam and human rights.

For more country-specific and international women, peace and security news, click here.

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3. COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN: 48TH SESSION
March 1-12, 2004, United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will hold its annual session, the 48th session, tentatively scheduled for the first two weeks of March 2004, at New York Headquarters.

This year, the Commission will focus on two thematic issues:

1. The role of men and boys in gender equality
2. Women's equal participation in conflict prevention, conflict management and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace-building.

Expert Group Meetings

In preparation for CSW, two expert groups are established to assess progress on the two thematic issues chosen for the 48th session and formulate recommendations on each theme for consideration by the CSW delegates.

Background papers and the final reports of these meetings will be made available online after the meetings and in the lead-up to CSW.

Thematic issue #1:
The Government of Brazil and the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), in collaboration with ILO and UNAIDS, co-sponsored the Expert Group Meeting on The Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality held in Brazil October 21-24, 2003. For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/men-boys2003/index.html

Thematic Issue #2:
DAW, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI) and the Department of Political Affairs are co-sponsoring an Expert Group Meeting on Peace Agreements as a means for Promoting Gender Equality and Ensuring Participation of Women – A framework of model provisions.

The meeting will be held 10-13 November 2003 in Ottawa, Canada.

Case studies will be considered in order to formulate a framework of model provisions for the integration of a gender perspective and women's participation in future peace agreement processes. The case studies to be considered are: Cambodia, Afghanistan, Timor-Leste, Liberia, DRC, Sierra Leone, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Guatemala/El Salvador.

The PeaceWomen Project of the WILPF UN Office has been invited to participate in the Expert Group Meeting as an observer, along with a number of other NGOs. As an observer, we will be presenting a statement which we will include in the next issue of 1325 PeaceWomen E-News.

For more information, including the final aide memoire, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/peace2003/

NGO Participation
(Based on IWTC WOMEN'S GLOBALNET #235, October 21, 2003)

Invitations to pre-register for the CSW have been sent out to ECOSOC-accredited NGOs. These NGOs are asked to provide the pre-registration form listing their representatives to the Division no later than Friday, 19 December 2003.

NGOs will be permitted to participate by providing written statements on the two themes of the session. For guidelines relating to these statements, please link to http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/. NGOs interested in providing a statement may do so no later than 14 January 2004 by addressing it directly to Ms. Vivian Pliner-Josephs in the Secretariat (Room S-2950E).

NGOs can apply for side events during the CSW session by filling out an application form available on http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/48sess.htm

The deadline for applications is February 16, 2004.

NGO Consultation
On February 29, 2004, before the CSW begins, the NGO Committee on the Status of Women will host an NGO Consultation for NGOs attending the CSW. We will provide more information about this Consultation as soon as the information becomes available.

For more information, and to contact the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, call (212) 692-0725 or email ngo_csw_ny@hotmail.com.

Listservs
The PeaceWomen Project of the WILPF UN Office is co-chairing, with Hague Appeal for Peace, the NGO Taskforce on Theme #2.

As co-chair, the PeaceWomen Project is hosting a listserv for those interested in participating in the taskforce on theme #2. This listserv will provide an opportunity for NGOs to share resources, strategize on the NGO Consultation (29 February 2004), and their goals and objectives for this year's CSW.

To subscribe to this listserv, contact Kara Piccirilli at kara@peacewomen.org.

For background information on the CSW, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/index.html#functions

For information about the 48th session of the CSW, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/48sess.htm

For more information about NGO participation in CSW, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/48sess.htm

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4. FEATURE STATEMENT

CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE SPEAKS AT A NEWS CONFERENCE FEATURING THE VOICES OF THE WOMEN FROM THE WORLD'S WAR ZONES: INTRODUCING U.S. HOUSE RESOLUTION 432
Washington, D.C., November 5, 2003

On November 5, 2003, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX 30th) introduced US House Resolution 432 "calling on the U.S. to play a lead role in making certain that the member states of the United Nations meet their obligations to protect the lives and rights of women and children during war and its aftermath."

Included below are her remarks made during a news conference on Capitol Hill on November 5, 2003:

Good afternoon.

I would personally like to thank each of you for attending this news conference.

Gathered here in this room this afternoon are women who have survived the ravages of war around the globe. They have come from far-flung regions of the world. Some call Liberia home.

Others have come from war-torn Iraq. Still others from Afghanistan and Palestine. Some have escaped the economic upheaval in Argentina.

They have come to give voice and vent to the ancient adage that "war is hell" and that it creates a hellish existence for women and children.
They have to issue the clarion call for peace.

They are joined by other women, including members of Congress and a network of women's organizations, who want to ensure that their voices are not drowned out by the specter of war.

Women and children are no longer the innocent bystanders of war and armed conflict.

They are increasingly becoming the targets of soldiers and snipers. Women and children are especially vulnerable to the devastating consequences of war and displacement.

There are generations of women and girls who have known nothing except war. Sadly, the magnitude of violence suffered by women before, during and after armed conflict has reached alarming levels.

Women and children are increasingly targeted by armed elements for murder, abduction, forced military conscription, involuntary servitude and gender-based violence…

These statistics cause us to weep. Yet they are spurring us to action. To this end, I am introducing a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives today calling upon the United States to do more to protect women from the abuses of war.

The resolution, officially known as House Resolution 432, calls on the U.S. to play a lead role in making certain that the member states of the United Nations meet their obligations to protect the lives and rights of women and children during war and its aftermath.

Those obligations were spelled out and ratified unanimously by the United Nations three years ago in Security Council Resolution 1325 on
Women, Peace and Security…

Since that time millions more have been displaced. Countless numbers of women and children have died. It is crucial that women's voices
are heard and their work recognized.

The time is past. We must act. And we must act now.

We all know that women suffer the most from wars. Compounding matters, they have to wage another fight just to participate in peace negotiations and conflict resolution processes to bring war to an end.

Around the world there is no shortage of women who have been fighting for peace in their communities, only behind the scenes.

In addition, we must increase the participation of women in the decision-making process. This is the precursor to strengthening the democratic process.

R. Buckminster Fuller once mused: "Either man is obsolete or war is."

As women united in purpose and in goal, we say it is time to make war obsolete, to protect the women and children from its ravages. We must not do less. They are the life-givers and the future of this planet.

For the full set of remarks, click here.

For the news release from the office of Congresswoman Johnson, on U.S. House Resolution 432, click here.

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5. FEATURE INITIATIVE

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MARCH IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL – REMINDER
December 20, 2003-January 11, 2004

Below are excerpts from a recent message sent by Gila Svirsky of Coalition of Women for Peace and a member of the Organizing Committee in Israel:

A group of enterprising women from Oslo (who have to their credit some impressive human rights marches in Central America, Russia, and elsewhere) have decided to bring their skills to bear on the Middle East conflict. Women's organizations in Israel and Palestine have mobilized to support and organize this project on the ground. After several postponements due to the fluid situation in this region, we now all agree to the following final dates: December 20, 2003 to January 11, 2004.

During this 3-week period, we have planned an itinerary that will include daily: a march (walk) to advocate peace and human rights, discussions with individuals and organizations that are part of civil society, cultural and musical exchange (bring instruments and voices), and of course some basic sightseeing. And we will be walking through both Israel and Palestine, splitting the days about evenly between them.

We are calling this The International Human Rights March in Palestine and Israel. Hundreds of women from all over the world have already begun to register and join. The more who come, the better, in terms of conveying our message.

Please see the website www.humanrightsmarch.org for important basic information about the march. Don't miss the FAQs section on that site, which contains the heart of the matter. If you still have questions, write to the Organizing Committee in your own country – which you will also find on the website.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Committee has prepared the following replies to questions that have been directed to us.

Who are the Israelis sponsoring the March?
The Coalition of Women for Peace, which represents 9 women's peace organizations in Israel. To learn more about us, see our website http://www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org/

Who are the Palestinians sponsoring the March?
The General Union of Palestinian Women, a large organization, which you can learn about at http://www.gupw.net, together with the Jerusalem Center for Women (the Palestinian side of The Jerusalem Link), which you can learn about at http://www.jcw.org.

What are the goals of the March from the Israeli perspective?
On the Israeli side, we have set our goals as follows: To inform international women about the realities of the political conflict in this region, to introduce you to the (amazing) women's peace movements in Israel and Palestine and our feminist vision for peace, and to mobilize your international support for this vision.

What is the itinerary?
We start in Tel Aviv and spend the first 4 days in Israel, marching and sightseeing in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Beersheba, and Bedouin areas in the south. From there, the group will proceed to Bethlehem, Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, and other sites in the West Bank for about 10 days. Then the group will return to Israel for Nazareth, Tiberias, the Galilee, Haifa, and end in Jerusalem on January 10.

This itinerary is subject to change, depending on the circumstances, but we shall try to adhere to the set schedule.

For more information, including more FAQs, visit the international website at: http://humanrightsmarch.org

For the Coalition of Women for Peace, visit www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org or contact mail@coalitionofwomen4peace.org.

For more women, peace and security initiatives, click here.

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6. FEATURE RESOURCES

NEW PUBLICATIONS BY UNIDIR AND ACCORD ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY ISSUES

Below are brief descriptions of two recent publications, from the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) respectively, on women, peace and security, released on the third anniversary of the adoption of UNSC Resolution 1325:

Women, Men, Peace and Security
Disarmament Forum, Issue 4, 2003
UNIDIR

“This issue of Disarmament Forum examines how gender relates to disarmament and security issues. Contributing authors explore gender aspects of early warning, the role of gender in DDR programmes, masculine behaviour and violence, and consider specific UN efforts concerning gender mainstreaming—including the Gender Action Plan of the Department for Disarmament Affairs.”

For the full issue, visit: http://www.unidir.org/gender/

"Women, Peace & Security"
Conflict Trends, Issue 3, 2003
ACCORD

“Historically, gender-based exclusion, including women's absence from peace negotiating forums, has resulted in damaging setbacks in reconciliation and post-conflict recovery efforts... As steps are taken on the continent to address the difficulties that women face in conflict situations, and to achieve the objective of increasing women's participation in peace processes, awareness needs to be raised on, firstly, why women are particularly at risk and the challenges they face on the continent, and secondly, what achievements have been made to mainstream gender at decision-making levels of sub-regional organisations. This special edition of Conflict Trends, on women, peace and security, seeks to illustrate and analyze these issues and stimulate debate on the continent regarding the positive contribution that women make on peace and security issues.”

For the full issue, visit: http://www.accord.org.za/web.nsf

For country-specific and thematic civil society, UN and government documents, click here.

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