WUNRN
INTERNATIONAL
COLLOQUIUM ON WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL PEACE
AND SECURITY
Monrovia,
Liberia | March 7-8, 2009
Coinciding
with International Women's Day (March 8), women leaders from around the world
will convene for the International Colloquium for Women’s Empowerment,
Leadership Development, International Peace and Security (the Colloquium) at
the SKD Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. The Colloquium,
conceptualized in 2006 during the inauguration of Africa’s first female
President, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, will bring together 400 international
participants and 400 Liberian national participants, including female leaders;
heads of state and government; ministers; CEOs, presidents and executive
directors; and NGO and community leaders. The Conference, co-convened by
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of
Finland, seeks to create an environment for women and their champions around
the world to discuss, learn, demonstrate and act on the benefits and lessons
learned from women in leadership.
• The Colloquium seeks to realize the aims of UN Security Council Resolution 1325
on women, peace and security to ensure that women are protected from the worst
abuses in times of conflict and to empower them to play their rightful and
vital role in helping their countries prevent, end and recover from conflict.
The Colloquium will bring together an international group of women leaders to
identify the successes and failures of measures adopted for 1325; to serve as a
resource base and catalyst for activity worldwide; and to develop and support
meaningful strategies and activities for increasing global security.
• The Angie Brooks International Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership
Development, Peace and Security, which will be based in Monrovia, will be
launched in March 2009. The Centre will support the implementation of actions
emerging from the International Colloquium, through, inter alia: a) training to
empower current and future women leaders; and b) research, analysis and
advocacy on women's leadership. It is being established in honor of the late Angie Brooks, Liberia's
former Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Africa's first woman
President of the United Nations 24th General Assembly (1969).
• Furthermore, the establishment of the Centre is symbolic in that through it,
women in leadership worldwide are being honored. The Colloquium will initiate
other capacity-building projects such as the Young Professional Emerging
Leaders Dialogue Series, one of which will establish a 5-region dialogue series
entitled Uncovering Barriers to Women’s Political Leadership: Today’s Leaders
Reach Out to Tomorrow’s Leaders. This series, which precedes the conference
from December to January 2009, will feature live interviews of and
participation from current and former women heads of state interacting with a
global audience of future world leaders. Each dialogue will produce
recommendations and solutions on how to break down gender barriers to
leadership.
Colloquium
Goals
COLLOQUIUM
GOALS AND THEME LEADS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Goal 1: Empower women to be more effective
leaders by linking them with their peers from around the world and sharing best
practices
Goal 2: Support the implementation of UN
Security Council Resolution 1325
Goal 3: Contribute to the achievement of
Millennium Development Goal #3 on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women,
including building capacity and resources of government and non-governmental
institutions to work for women's rights and economic empowerment
Goal 4: Demonstrate the clear gender
dimensions of climate change, environment protection and sustainable
development
Goal 5: Launch the Angie Brooks International
Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and
Security, in Monrovia to support the implementation of action emerging from the
Colloquium through, inter alia, training and research
• Build global networks and facilitate collective action
among women leaders that incorporate Liberian and other African women from
conflict-affected areas. Theme Lead: African Women's Development Fund (Bisi
Adeleye-Fayemi) Partners include TLC Africa
• Share and further develop effective models of economic empowerment and decent
work for women and men. Theme Lead: International Trade Centre (Sabine
Meitzel); Partners include Cisco Systems; AWDF; ILO; Realizing Rights;
Association of Black Charities
• Engage young people in supporting and embracing women's empowerment,
leadership development and contributions to international peace and security.
Theme Lead: World YWCA (Natalie Fisher-Spalton); Partners include World
Association of Girl Guides/Girl Scouts; UNICEF; UNFPA; ILO
• Amplify the efforts and achievements of women leaders in conflict-affected
areas. Theme Lead: UNIFEM Partners include Femmes Africa Solidarite; Sudanese
Women's Forum; Kenyan Women's Coalition; Government of Norway; UNIFEM Regional
Director in Rwanda and others
• Present a status report on
implementation of SCR 1325, including concrete
recommendations on monitoring and accountability mechanisms
• Facilitate the networking of African women that leads to the implementation
of 1325, including support for concrete programs for Liberian women as a
response to a Liberia country-level implementation plan for SCR 1325. Theme Lead:
Liberian Minister of Gender and Development, Vabah Gayflor, supported by
Colloquium Secretariat
• Prepare an action plan that includes a Colloquium statement from Presidents
Johnson-Sirleaf and Halonen to the Security Council calling for stronger accountability
mechanisms for 1325 and other measures.
• Consider the impact of migration and returning refugees on development and
women's empowerment.
Theme Lead: Ndiro Ndiaye, International Organization for Migration
Goal 3: Contribute to the achievement of Millennium
Development Goal #3 on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women,
including building capacity and resources of government and non-governmental
institutions to work for women's rights and economic empowerment
Theme Lead: Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to
the Secretary General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women; Liberian
Minister of Gender and Development Vabah Gayflor, supported by Colloquium
Secretariat Partners include UNIFEM; Women, Faith and Development Alliance
• Share lessons learned on reaching MDG 3 across regions and
adapt strategies from other countries to the Liberian context, particularly in
the areas of women's political participation and related to gender-based
violence
Goal 4: Demonstrate the clear gender dimensions of
climate change, environment protection and sustainable development
Theme Lead: Government of Finland (Aira Kalela)
• Strengthen women's participation in sustainable
development, particularly in developing of sustainable livelihoods in rural
areas related with climate change:
• Electrification of rural areas and providing other forms of energy with
renewable sources
• Increasing of forest areas, sustainable forest management including agro
forestry
• Adaptation and development of agricultural methods, crops and irrigation in
dry lands and flooding areas
• Development of water management and sanitation in dry or flooding regions
• Make women leaders aware of the role of women in management of natural
resources and linkage between gender and climate change
• Make women leaders aware of various resources of financing, which could be
used, both for mitigation and adaptation of climate change as well as
facilitate programs and projects for financing
Organization
The Colloquium is co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Liberia, Honorable Olubanke King-Akerele, and the Minister of Gender
and Development of Liberia, Honorable Vabah Gayflor. The International
Secretariat is headed by the Colloquium Manager, Counselor Yvette
Chesson-Wureh. The National Steering Committee is chaired by the Minister of
Gender and Development, Vabah Gayflor who is also a member on the International
Steering Committee. The International Steering Committee is comprised of the
three regional Vice-Chairs as follows: The Vice-Chair for Africa and Asia, Bineta
Diop, Executive Director, Femmes Africa Solidarite (FAS) in Senegal; The
Vice-Chair for Europe and the Middle East, Honorable Elizabeth Rehn, Minister
of State for Finland and the first female Minister of Defense in the world; The
Vice-Chair of The Americas: North America, Latin America & Caribbean
Countries, the Council of Women World Leaders, Dr. Carole Henderson Tyson, and
other Eminent women. The Council of Women World Leaders comprised of all
sitting women Heads of State and former women Heads of State in the world, will
also have President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf host its annual conference in
Liberia, marking its first ever in Africa.
*Reports to Co-Chairs while serving as Secretary to the International Steering
Committee and managing the Colloquium Secretariat with its various management
committees. N.B. The International Steering Committee consists of the
individuals in the center box reflecting the Co-Chairs as well as the Vice
Chairs.
Angie Brooks Center
The
Colloquium will announce the March 2009 launch of the Angie Brooks
International Centre on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, Peace and
Security, to be based in Monrovia. The Centre will support the implementation
of actions emerging from the Colloquium, through training to empower current
and future women leaders, and research, analysis and advocacy on women’s
leadership. The Centre, to be based on the University of Liberia campus at
Fendel, will honor Angie Brooks, Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the
United Nations and Africa’s first woman President of the United Nations General
Assembly (1969). Its establishment is symbolic in that through it, women in leadership
roles worldwide are being honored. The Centre will be a proactive and practical
instrument of research, workshops and training in women’s empowerment and
leadership development, and as such, will ensure sustainability of the results
of the Colloquium.
Areas of Focus of the Centre
• Research
• Training
• Intergenerational Legacies and Leadership Development
• Advocacy
Collaborating
Programs and Centres
Efforts have been initiated to explore how the proposed Centre could cooperate
with related centres worldwide, in Jordan (United Nations University
International Leadership Institute), Canada (Centre for Research and Teaching
on Women, at McGill University in Montreal), and the United States (Women in
International Security, at Georgetown University). Others are the Suzanne
Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement, the Cairo Regional Centre for
Peace and International Cooperation in Egypt, the Gender Equality Research
Centre and Gender Equality Training Program at the University in Iceland as well
as the Peacekeeping Training Institute in Iceland.
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