General Women, Peace and Security

Perhaps one of the most memorable facets of Egypt's pro-democracy uprisings earlier this year was the strong presence of women in the (largely peaceful) demonstrations that took place in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in other Egyptian public arenas.

On March 3, 2011, hundreds of women gathered to protest peacefully in Cote d'Ivoire to end the political stalemate and the worsening security situation. The Ivorian women took to the streets of Abidjan to put pressure on their leaders to end the stalemate and allow peace to prevail. Seven unarmed women protestors were killed in the process by forces loyal to former president Laurent Koudou Gbagbo.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has correctly warned that women's rights in Tunisia and Egypt risk being undermined, endangering reforms to gender discriminatory laws and jeopardizing the vital social, economic and political contribution of half the population.

In this crucial post-coup stage, women who fought for change should heed the betrayals of gender rights in Algeria and Iran during periods of crisis.

On March 12, 2011, women human rights defenders from Palestine and Israel marked the centenary of International Women's Day with a historic conference at which the following contributions were made: Ilana Hammerman: The "Entry to Israel" law is illegal and should not be obeyed; and Rivka Sum: The attack in Itamar proves that we should continue to work daily together to end the impossible occupation.

In 2000, when the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, there was reason to hope that women would finally be at the table in countries where major decisions were being made following political crises. Born out of the Balkan crisis in the preceding decade, Res.

On March 3, hundreds of women gathered to protest peacefully in Ivory Coast to end the political stalemate and the worsening security situation. Unarmed, chanting peacefully. What were they thinking?

The Civil society Action Network – Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (ICAN-GNWP) expresses strong solidarity with the women of Côte d'Ivoire as they mourn their sisters shot down by security forces in Abidjan on March 3, 2011.