May 30^th to June 2^nd 2006

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                            Friday, May 26^th, 2006

 

Contact: Karen Barnes

Work +44 (0)207 627 6844

Mobile +44 (0)7766 760657

 

INTERNATIONAL LEADERS MEET TO HIGHLIGHT WOMEN’S ROLE IN PEACEBUILDING

 

LONDON – “Despite their exclusion from formal peace processes and decision-making, women play a critical role in preventing conflict, building peace and reconstructing their societies,” says Karen Barnes, coordinator of Gender Action for Peace and Security UK (GAPS). This was given official recognition with the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) in October 2000, which mandated the inclusion of women and a gender perspective in all aspects of peace and security.

 

Wilton Park, one of the world's leading institutions for international policy discussions, is hosting a conference from May 30^th to June 2^nd 2006 to discuss the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) on Women, Peace and Security. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia, will be giving the keynote address. This conference represents a unique opportunity to bring together high-level policy-makers and grassroots women peacebuilders to exchange experiences and strategies to find constructive ways forward for implementing SCR 1325. This conference is being organised in partnership with GAPS, and in co-operation with the UK Government’s Global Conflict Prevention Pool, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Canadian International Development Agency. “We applaud the commitment and leadership of the conference partners, in particular the UK government and the Commonwealth Secretariat, for their efforts to promote and support women’s participation in peacebuilding initiatives,” says Maria Olson of International Alert, a GAPS member.

 

Women peacebuilders and practitioners from countries such as Afghanistan, Nepal, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Iraq will be attending the conference to speak about the situation in their countries. For more information and to arrange interviews by ISDN link please contact Karen Barnes, Coordinator (GAPS) at +44 (0)7766 760657 or k.n.barnes@lse.ac.uk.

 

In order to effectively implement SCR 1325, GAPS calls on all actors to:

• Develop and implement national action plans to ensure that government actors fulfil their responsibilities as set out in SCR 1325
• Allocate greater financial support and other resources for women’s civil society groups and grassroots peacebuilding initiatives in conflict-affected regions
• Ensure integration of gender issues in all policy, programming and monitoring mechanisms at national, regional and international levels