WUNRN
ARAB WOMEN LEADERS CALL FOR GLOBAL
ACTION FOR PEACE & SECURITY
New York, NY (September 8, 2014) – Just days before the 69th General Assembly
commences, Arab women leaders convened high-level policy makers in New York to
issue key recommendations on women, peace, and security and call upon the
international community for their urgent support in ensuring women’s
participation at all levels of the peace and transition processes, and women’s
protection and security in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Responding to the marginalization, discrimination, and brutal violence
committed against women both during and post-conflict, the briefing event,
titled “Women’s Action for Peace,” was hosted by regional women’s rights
organization Karama, in partnership with the Post 2015 Women’s Coalition, a
global coalition focused on feminist movement building. The event provided
international stakeholders with first-person accounts of the realities for
women, and for their families and communities on the ground, as a means to
foster effective dialogue and develop lasting solutions.
“There is a major disconnect between governments and communities,” said Karama
founder Hibaaq Osman. “Governments must listen to the voices on the ground and
their actions must reflect the realities of the people to create long-term
peace and foster sustainable progress.”
Since the Arab Uprisings, a more severe normative climate has emerged in the
region, fueled largely by growing extremist influence. Recently, women have
faced increasing and targeted violence and discrimination, including attacks on
women human rights defenders. Arab women leaders gathered in
“Women human rights defenders are under threat in
Women are also facing systematic exclusion from peace and transition processes,
and post-transition decision-making structures. At this time more than ever,
women need to see active models who are engaged in supporting and protecting
them, from more police women on the ground to more women decision-makers
lobbying for reform of discriminatory laws.
Dr. Mouna Ghanem, co-founder of the Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace, spearheaded
advocacy for women’s inclusion at the Geneva II Peace talks earlier this year.
“
It is not just important to include women at
decision-making tables, but they have to be women who have influence in the
local communities. This will require more training for women on international
agreements, strategic communications, constitution writing, and other aspects
of peace, democracy, and the transitions.
This sentiment has been echoed by activists throughout the region, who believe
that without women’s inclusion and influence, peace is not a real possibility.
“In
But in order to see real change in the region, the Arab women leaders stressed that
the UN and international governments must re-envision how conflict is dealt
with. They said the international community must break its pattern of dealing
only with armed troops in negotiating peace and focus on demilitarization,
disarmament, and dialogue. “Stakeholders only deal with women on domestic
issues. For important issues, even the
Karama’s delegation represents eight countries including
For more information, please contact Avni Shah at avni@el-karama.org.
Karama is the Arabic word for ‘dignity’ and a growing movement working to stop
violence against women in all its forms. In the wake of region-wide revolution,
Karama continues to emphasize women’s political participation and involvement
in decision-making and peacemaking, as well as women’s security and protection.
For more about Karama, please visit its website at www.el-karama.org.
The Post 2015 Women’s Coalition is made up of feminist, women’s rights, women’s
development, grassroots, peace and social justice organizations, networks and
individuals. It focuses on feminist movement building within and beyond the
framework of the evolving post 2015 development processes to ensure that
identified and articulated multi‐sectoral priorities related to gender equality, women’s
rights and women’s empowerment are influencing and framing discussions and
debates at all levels.
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