WUNRN
OSCE - Organisation for Security
& Co-Operation in Europe: http://www.osce.org/gender/90042
When: 22 October 2012 - Where: Vienna
Contact: Elke.Lidarik@osce.org
Organized by: The OSCE Secretariat's Gender Section, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Eleven years after the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, women’s mediation efforts are seldom reported or highlighted, even though women have played important roles in creating peace in many conflict situations.
More often than not women who participate in peace processes contribute in an informal way; they are close to the grassroots level and are seldom recognized in more formal peace negotiations.
The non-inclusion of women in peace processes means that the ensuing peace agreements lack a gender perspective and therefore do not recognize the needs of the population as a whole. Keeping in mind that every second peace agreement falls apart within the first five years of its existence, the international community needs to explore new ways to create sustainable peace. Including women in formal peace processes would be an important step to achieve this.
To discuss the role of female mediators the Gender Section of the OSCE and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights are organizing a one-day expert roundtable in Vienna on 22 October 2012. The roundtable will bring together local and international experts from the whole OSCE region and will invite contributions by international and local organizations such as the UN Standby Team of Mediation Experts, the Afghan Women’s Network and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva.
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