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RISING UP in RESPONSE While the past decade has
brought a significant increase in violent conflict - particularly
intra-state conflict - there has been parallel growth in the number of
available response mechanisms, including UN Security Council Resolution
1325, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the International Criminal
Court. A Project of Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights Too little has been done, however, to make these instruments accessible to women activists, who make up the bulk of the frontline human rights and humanitarian response to armed conflict. As the author notes, "[Women activists] are there long before international actors arrive - and they will be there long after they leave. Their work is fundamental in every phase of a conflict. Any externally-driven conflict intervention that does not acknowledge and support this response fails in its mission to serve conflict-affected populations." Anyone seeking to understand what happens to women human rights defenders throughout the various stages of conflict - how they respond to conflict, and how they are transformed by it - will benefit from reading this book. Women activists in the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka speak out about issues ranging from their interactions with international actors such as peacekeeping forces and humanitarian agencies to the increase in violence against women 'post-conflict' and how they provide for their own security needs, in the absence of significant external support. BookFlyerRUIR.pdf [ 485 kb ] : www.urgentactionfund.org | ||||
