Report on WILPF Australia's Activities Related to Security Council Resolution 1325

1. 1325 TRANSLATION UPDATE

As a result of the 1325 Translation Initiative, PeaceWomen now has 25 translations available online. The newest translations are Albanian, Greek, Persian/Farsi and Romanian.

We are currently waiting for translations in Bengali, Esperanto, German, Icelandic and Italian.

Major languages we still need include Hindi, Pashtu (Afghanistan), Portuguese, Sinhala (Sri Lanka), Somali and Tetum (Timor L'Este).

To view the translations online, click here.

If you would like copies of the translations but do not have web access, contact 1325news@peacewomen.org and we will send you the translations you request.

A PeaceWomen Translation flier is now available in PDF from the PeaceWomen website for anyone interested in contributing to the translation effort. The flier will be updated as new translations are added to the PeaceWomen website. To print the PeaceWomen Translation Flier, click here.

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2. INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS WOMEN'S ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION IN IRAQ: UPDATE

A number of initiatives have recently been added to the list including:

-Information about upcoming UN and US meetings on Iraqi women and reconstruction
-A Code Pink Visit to Iraq to plan for the establishment of an Occupation Watch Center
-An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton on the Needs and Roles of Iraqi Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Democracy and Peace-Building
-Release of the Winning the Peace Conference Report - Women's Role in Post-Conflict Iraq
-An op-ed piece by the US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs about the US' current efforts to ensure Iraqi women's equal participation in reconstruction

For the updated list, click here.

To ensure that this list remains up-to-date and accurate, PeaceWomen welcomes your input. To provide input, contact sarahshteir@peacewomen.org.

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3. COMMITTEE ON THE CONVENTION TO ELIMINATE ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW)
29th Session, June 30, - July 18
Reports from Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, and Slovenia

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an
international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

174 countries have ratified the Convention. An additional 97 countries have signed the treaty, binding themselves to do nothing in contravention of its terms.

For a list of countries that have already ratified CEDAW, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/states.htm

For a history of CEDAW, visit Feminist Majority Foundation at: http://www.feminist.org/research/cedawhist.html

During the 29th session, the Committee will hear Member States' reports on the implementation of CEDAW from Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, and Slovenia. The Committee will also hear NGOs' shadow reports of the governmental reports.

For statements and country reports, as well as other useful resources on the PeaceWomen website, click here.

For DAW's CEDAW page, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/29sess.htm

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4. 1325 NEWS

Visit our updated news pages on Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Israel-Palestine and Liberia

Standing up for Iraqi Women
July 2, 2003 – (The Washington Post, Op-Ed by Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs) Elizabeth Goitein's May 24 op-ed, "Stand Up for Iraqi Women," unfairly criticized the Bush administration for paying insufficient attention to the situation of women in Iraq. In fact, we are doing exactly what the headline on her article called for. Indeed, the commitment of the United States to the human rights of Iraq's women is unshakable and manifested clearly by our activities on the ground as well as our policy statements. Equally important, our efforts are appropriately guided by the Iraqi women themselves.

In the Mud, Liberia's Gentlest Rebels Pray for Peace
July 1, 2003 – (NYT) In a part of the world where one quickly becomes inured to the sight of scrawny, red-eyed, gun-toting teenage boys, there was an astonishing sight today along this capital's main road.

Resolution 1325 – Use It or Lose It
Summer 2003 – (Ms. Magazine Commentary) Last winter, as the United States Wages a pre-emptive war against Iraq, another war against the United Nations raged in the media and on Capitol Hill. It became commonplace to hear the U.N. dismissed as an expensive and pointless “talk shop.”

Sex Slavery Awaits Ugandan Schoolgirls
June 25, 2003 – (BBC) Security forces in Uganda are again hunting for schoolgirls who have been abducted by the notoriously brutal rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army.

Dialogue with Iraqi Women a UN Priority
June 23, 2003 – (UN News Excerpt) Mr. da Silva said that under the leadership of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, “the major challenge faced by the United Nations is to interpret the aspirations of the Iraqi people and respond to these needs.”

“We will intensify efforts to ensure a quality dialogue, while [Mr. Vieira de Mello] continues contact with a wide variety of Iraqi leaders,” he added, especially with Iraqi women. “We are proposing in the appeal a project to strengthen the UN's approach to gender equity,” he said. “Dialogue with Iraqi women will be given priority in the months ahead, particularly due to the visible erosion of gains of the past.”

For the full article, ‘UN Urges Donors to Make up Shortfall in Humanitarian Appeal for Iraq,' click here.

Women's Participation Critical To Peace, UNIFEM Head Says
June 19, 2003 – (UN Wire) With an estimated 45 armed conflicts and wars happening around the world, women are increasingly demanding participation in peace talks and the reconstruction of their countries, UNIFEM Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer told U.N. Wire in an interview yesterday.

America Must Intervene Directly, Women Urge
June 18, 2003 – (The NEWS - Monrovia) At about 9:58 yesterday morning, more than 100 aggrieved women, wailing with bare feet, marched to the United States Embassy calling for an immediate and direct intervention of the United States Government in the Liberian crises.

Push for Women's Participation In Defence Operations
June 15, 2003 – (BuaNews - Pretoria) The deputy minister of Defence, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, says efforts to increase women's participation in peace processes must be intensified.

For more 1325 news, click here.

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5. FEATURE REPORT

Report on WILPF Australia's Activities Related to Security Council Resolution 1325
WILPF (Australian Capital Territory- ACT) branch, Canberra
June 2003

Two years ago, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Australian Capital Territory (ACT) branch in Canberra began working on Resolution 1325. Over the past two years they have made presentations and conducted workshops at the local level and also at national and international conferences, representing the WILPF Australia Section. In addition, they have received a grant to develop educational /informational packages on Resolution 1325.

It is not only the ACT branch that is actively working on Resolution 1325. The WILPF Australia Section adopted Resolution 1325 as its top priority for education and action at its Triennial Conference in Brisbane in May 2003. In addition, WILPF branches in Brisbane and Adelaide have also held workshops on Resolution 1325.

The WILPF ACT branch sent PeaceWomen a list of their activities over the past year related to Resolution 1325. Below are excerpts from this list:

* October 2002: WILPF initiated a workshop on 1325, attended by women doctors, lawyers, scientists and journalists, most of whom were also mothers. This led to

-The development of a Statement for Peace and against War, endorsed by the WILPF Section, affirming the goals of 1325 which was placed on the WILPF website and circulated around Australia in hard copy, and tabled in the Senate with over 6,000 signatures in March 2003

-A letter to the Prime Minister and the various Ministers requesting information about the way in which 1325 was being forwarded across all Government portfolios. Replies were received from

Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Senator Robert Hill, Minster of Defence
Department of Health and Aging
Hon Dr Nelson MP Minister for Education, Science and Training

These replies were very supportive in principle of the Resolution and indicated how it was being enacted in each portfolio.

* April 2003: WILPF National Section obtained a $10,000 grant for developing two educational packages designed for the general community and secondary school students and an information package for Federal parliamentarians on 1325 from the National Office of the Status of Women via the Womenspeak consortium convened by the YWCA

* June 2003: Members of WILPF ACT have begun consultations with Federal MPs, in relation to the proposed information package for Federal Parliamentarians. WILPF ACT, in its consultation efforts, has support from women in all parties.

* July 2003 WILPF women attending the International Women's Summit in Brisbane will be distributing material about 1325.

For the full report, click here.

For more information about this report, contact Margaret Bearlin, WILPF ACT branch at: mbearlin@effect.net.au or call 02 6251 4607.

To contact the WILPF Australia national office, call (+61 7) 3800 3749 or email mdziesak@bigpond.com.

For a comprehensive annotated bibliography of books, articles and analyses on women's peace theory and activities, as well as NGO position papers, reports, speeches, statements and tools for organisational building, click here.

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6. FEATURE STATEMENTS

Below are excerpts of three recent additions to PeaceWomen Resources:

Open Letter to the Government of Sudan Regarding the Arrest of Women and Men Going to a Peace Conference
The International Committee in Support of Nuba Women and Children and the Sudanese Women and Human Rights Group
June 25, 2003

The international community has just been informed by a number of organizations, among them, the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and Sudanese Human Rights Organization (SHRO) in Cairo, that the Government of Sudan (GOS) arrested 38 Nuba women and 3 men on their way to a peace conference in Kauda in the Nuba Mountains. We have been further informed that the GOS security officials confiscated money and resources from the delegation. Among those arrested was Zeinab Balnadiya, the President of Ruayya Association, the Nuba Mountains Women's Association, a legitimate and legal association of Nuba women in Sudan.

The international attempts of your government to show your commitment to human rights is being undermined by the inhumane arrests. The arrest of the women whose only crime was waging peace came as a shock to all of us, especially at this time of alleged peace talks between the government and warring factions with the Sudan. Women in the Sudan have been involved in peace making at all levels of civil society, but especially those at a grassroots level who have been most affected by this long standing civil war. They, together with their children, have suffered displacement, loss of life and culture, and aggression. Furthermore, they have been deprived of the role of peace makers within your government. Despite the fact that women and children have been the main sufferers in the wars in Sudan (perhaps, been especially true in the Nuba Mountains), and despite your repressive policies towards them, they have persevered.

Are we to think that your decision to arrest and harass these women of Ruayya is another attempt to restrict their voice in these matters, thus restricting their role in society, in general? We particularly note that your decision restricts women at all levels of civil society and deprives women of the right to:

1. Freedom of movement.
2. Freedom of expression.
3. To protect their children and families from the atrocities of war.
4. To participate in the development of their regions.
5. To participate in the peace process that affects their lives.

For the full letter, click here.

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Prise de Position des Femmes Leaders Pour Une Paix en RDC
Femmes Leaders pour une Paix durable en R.D.C, Centre de Recherche et d'Appui aux initiatives de Paix
June 23, 2003

Nous Femmes leaders pour une paix durable en RDC de la province du Katanga.

• Ayant lu et parcouru minutieusement la dite constitution;
• Remerciant et félicitant les délégués des composantes et entités au Dialogue inter congolais pour le travail si endurant que vous avez effectué;
• Ayant constaté le retard dans l'application des accords de la Transition pacifique dan notre pays la RDC.
• Soucieuses:
- du respect du délai de la Transition;
- de l'intégrité territoriale et de l'Unité nationale;
• Ecœurées par la démagogie de nos leaders politiques;
• Peinées par:
-les tueries et massacres systématiques dont la population innocente de la partie Est de la République est victime;
- La régression du développement de notre pays,
- Le pillage de nos ressources tant par les nationaux que par les étranges qui plongent ainsi la population dans un état de misère sans pareil;
• Convaincues que le rétablissement de la paix ne peut être que l'émanation de la volonté des belligérants, de la prise de conscience de la population tout entière et de l'appui franc et effectif de la communauté internationale;
• Exprimant notre gratitude au comité international de suivi pour tous les efforts déployés et pour l'intérêt port au peuple congolais que nous sommes dans le processus de la recherche, du maintien et de la consolidation la paix;
• Fort de voir les prescrits de la Constitution de la Transition tels que stipules…

For the full letter, click here.

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Open Letter to Hillary Clinton: Needs and Roles of Iraqi Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Democracy and Peace-Building
Margaret Owen, Widows for Peace and Reconstruction
June 18, 2003

Dear Senator Clinton:

NEEDS AND ROLES OF IRAQI WOMEN IN POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION, DEMOCRACY AND PEACE-BUILDING

…Aware of your commitment to justice for women, I am writing to you on behalf of Iraqi Women in the hope that you will be able to exert your considerable influence in the US Senate to ensure their human rights at this crucial time in their history.

…For the last few months, I have been working closely with Iraqi Women in exile in the UK and through them with our government departments, DFID and the FCO, in an effort to ensure that gender issues are mainstreamed in any post-conflict administration.

The Iraqi Women here had indeed put forward a very detailed proposal for a WOMENS TENT MEETING IN BAGHDAD.

This Tent Meeting was designed to take place as soon as possible and definitely before the next meeting of the Interim Administration, so that the conclusions of its three-day deliberations and the text of its manifesto could be presented to the IA when it met again in July.

…It has now come to our knowledge that Paul Bremer, the US representative in charge of reconstruction in Iraq has vetoed this proposal. And what is now planned is something very minor which can not possibly provide the much-needed channel and opportunity for Iraqi Women to state their demands and rights.

…We would, therefore, be most grateful if you could consider investigating what the US administration in Iraq is prepared to do in the context of Security Council 1325, and other human rights treaties and conventions. Will it ensure that the women of Iraq are properly represented in any new administration, nationally and locally, that gender is mainstreamed across all government departments, and that women's voices are properly heard?

…We hope you will be able to take up this issue in the US Senate.

For the full letter, click here.

For a comprehensive annotated bibliography of books, articles and analyses on women's peace theory and activities, as well as NGO position papers, reports, speeches, statements and tools for organisational building, click here.

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7. FEATURE RESOURCE

Women's Voices in War Zones: The Results of the Women's WORLD Contest
Women's WORLD
March 2003-May 2003

In March, Women's WORLD, a global free speech network of feminist writers, initiated an international writing contest, co-sponsored by the The Nation Institute to “bring forward women's ideas on the subject of war and terrorism and enable them to be heard in the public arena.”

290 women from 45 countries submitted essays.

Considering the large number of entries, Women's WORLD decided to award not only first and second place prizes but also third place prizes and honourable mentions.

The winners include a homeless woman living in a shelter in New York City who wrote about an undeclared war against the poor, a Ugandan woman who wrote about life under the Lord's Resistance Army, and an Iranian Kurdish refugee in Canada, who wrote about giving birth to her son during the Iran-Iraq war.

To read their essays, as well as those of the other winners, visit: http://www.wworld.org/programs/newItem.asp?eventID=40

For a comprehensive annotated bibliography of books, articles and analyses on women's peace theory and activities, as well as NGO position papers, reports, speeches, statements and tools for organisational building, click here.

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8. CALENDAR EVENTS

The Role of Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality: Online Discussion
June 30-July 25, 2003
The results of this online discussion, organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) will be presented to the Expert Group Meeting which will be held between September - November 2003 in preparation for the 48th Session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women in March 2004. For more information and to join the discussion, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/men-boys2003/online.html

Empowering Women in Iraq: Defining a Blueprint for Moving Forward
July 8, 11-12:30, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC
Women Waging Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars have organized this meeting to discuss the status of reconstruction and the role of women in the process. The meeting will feature Rend Francke, Executive Director of the Iraq Foundation, who recently returned from Iraq, and Swanee Hunt, Chair of the Hunt Alternatives Fund and Women Waging Peace, who will review the findings from "Winning the Peace: The Women's Role in Post-Conflict Iraq." "Winning the Peace" (see below). For more information and to RSVP, email conflictprevention@wwic.si.edu.

Code Pink-led Trip to Palestine and Israel in Honor of Rachael Corrie
August 30-September 8, 2003, Israel-Palestine
Global Exchange, an international human rights organization, has organized a delegation to Palestine and Israel in honor of the slain U.S. peace activist, Rachel Corrie. The delegation will visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nablus or Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem, and Gaza, meeting with Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations to explore the roots of the conflict. In addition, the delegation will participate in a home rebuilding project, and actions to draw attention to Israel's policy of demolishing Palestinian homes. The cost of the trip will be approximately $1200, plus air fare. For more information and to sign up for the trip, contact: deirdre@whitedog.com, 215-386-9224, ext. 121 or ladan@globalexchange.org, 415-575-5528.

For more calendar events click here.

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