In Geneva, women from the world over remembered a Greek heroine as they lobbied for peace. Dina Ezzat reports from the Swiss city It has been some 2,000 years since Aristophanes, the great Greek poet, scripted his legendary piece Lysistrata, to document the strength that women could demonstrate when peace is at stake. This week in Geneva, some 400 women peace activists and many world dignitaries relived the legend of the Athenian female who persuaded the women of Athens and Sparta to freeze all relationships with men in order to force them to end 20 years of fighting. Lysistrata's success in lobbying for peace was remembered at Monday's opening ceremony of the International Conference on Women Defending Peace (ICWDP) at the headquarters of the International Labour Organisation. In her capacity as the founder and chair of the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, along with Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs Micheline Calmy-Rey, inaugurated the three-day event at ILO headquarters in Geneva with an appeal for the establishment of a strong global coalition of women defending peace. Participants debated the reasons behind the failure of thousands of women peace organisations across the world, especially in conflict-ridden areas such as the Middle East, to achieve their objectives. They also debated ways of making the conference, which is likely to start meeting on a regular basis -- once every five years -- better than many other similar gatherings. In her address, Mrs Mubarak pointed to the fragmented efforts of thousands of women peace groups around the world as the reason for the continuous failure of women to do what Lysistrata did. She also pointed to the failure of such groups to properly communicate their message to the grassroots level and address the many cultural sensitivities and concerns involved in the role of women in making peace. Most of the views and concerns expressed during the sessions were based on personal experiences and accounts of women who have lived in war zones in Palestine, East Timor, Bosnia and Colombia, and many other of the 59 conflicts in 48 parts around the world. Many spoke of a male-dominated world that forced wars on women. Others acknowledged the many times when women failed to achieve peace, fighting instead for the liberation of their occupied lands. The outcome of the ICWDP was a detailed and pragmatic plan of action that defines the road ahead and assigns the participants clear responsibilities in lobbying public opinion and officials in their respective countries. The ultimate objective is to increase awareness of a woman's exceptional abilities to make peace and to ensure the participation of women in political decision-making, especially when it comes to peace processes. The ICWDP stressed the role of non- governmental organisations in leading the way to implementing UN Security Council resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, to recognise and promote "the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building". In a message to the conference, UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan stated he did not have a real success story to include in his report to the UN Security Council four months ago to assess the implementation of 1325. The toll that wars take on women is still "epidemic" and the participation of women in peace processes around the world is still minimal, Annan said. Calmy-Rey pledged the support of her government to the NGOs' efforts on this front and stressed that empowering women to make peace was a priority for the Swiss government this year. "But the way ahead is uneasy and there are no magic solutions to what we are embarking on," Mrs Mubarak said. "The struggle for peace is very tough." She added, however, that women "must assume a leadership role to protect humankind from its worst traits. "We can overcome what divides our family and build an era of peace around the world. Our driving force will be our shared values and our faith in the capacity for goodness and constructive behaviour." In Geneva, peace activists from Israel admitted their voice would not be loud or strong enough to force their government to ease the restrictions which Palestinians, including the elderly, women and children, face or to break the cycle of violence that Israeli occupation forces perpetuate, making it impossible for Palestinians to live in peace for just one day. In a recorded video message to the conference, Palestinian peace activist Zahira Kamal said that her "personal journey" allowed her "to see Israelis as individuals and not just as one homogenous group and to realise that not all Israelis were my enemy". However, she added that the moments of hope for peace have become very rare for her. "This is becoming more and more difficult each day, as a very real physical barrier (the separation wall that Israel is constructing in occupied Palestinian territories) is being erected between the two people." Women from the Middle East admitted that they still have a long way to go before they can achieve the success story that their African counterparts met with in many conflict spots on the continent. But African women admitted shortcomings, with many internal and cross-border conflict raging. "Enough is enough. We, African women and mothers, are tired of conflict. We have to move from the rhetoric of peace to concrete actions," Gertrude Mongella, president of the African Union's Pan-African Parliament, said. Concrete action and tangible success, said Mrs Mubarak, are the factors used to measure success or failure of the plan of action that was adopted amid much applause. Mrs Mubarak's hard talk IN AN INTERVIEW with the mass circulation Swiss daily Le Temps, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak responded to several tough questions related to domestic issues, including President Hosni Mubarak's plans and the political future of Gamal Mubarak. She also commented on the Western media's stance on Middle Eastern affairs. Asked by Le Temps 's Pierre Hazan if President Mubarak, "who has been in office for some 23 years," is planning to run for a new term, Mrs Mubarak offered an indirect, but diplomatic and indicative answer nonetheless. "I don't know personally. I am hoping for some rest, but one looks around and finds an environment where there is a conflict in Iraq, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There seem to be problems everywhere. It seems difficult to just give up and disengage under such circumstances." An equally revealing reply awaited Hazan's inquiry into the possibility that Gamal Mubarak would "succeed his father". Gamal "is also a part of the political scene," Mrs Mubarak said. "He is surrounded by a group of young, dynamic and creative Egyptians. I believe that they have so many good things to offer to the country." Mrs Mubarak was also asked to answer a question on an even more taboo issue: Egypt's treatment of homosexuality. "I know that in your country," she said, "homosexuality is a matter that has become totally accepted today. I believe that these matters have to be treated within the social contexts that are accepted by different societies and their norms. This means that while Western countries have their own set of values, we too are entitled to our own set of values. And I really do not think it is right for the West to attempt to impose its values on us, as if we were its subjects." Mrs Mubarak was in Geneva to attend the International Conference for Women Defending Peace, which took place from 22 to 24 November. Asked by Le Temps for her views on the situation in Iraq, she said, "look at the destruction that is taking place... Where are the principals of human rights and democracy when it comes to the situation in Iraq?" Mrs Mubarak criticised the Western media for its failure to offer a balanced view of the situation, or the suffering of the Iraqi people. "Tell me the last time you saw an Iraqi woman expressing her views about her daily life on a Western TV channel?" she asked Le Temps. Documenting brutalities In a book released to mark the International Conference on Women Defending Peace that took place in Geneva, Switzerland last week, the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement provided figures and images of war's horrific impact on women and children. Titled Wounds of War, the glossy 62-page publication provides shocking but factual testimony of the many physical, social and emotional wounds that women and children must bear when men decide to go to war. Wounds of War is also a testimony to what Mrs Mubarak describes, in the preface, as "an enormous gap [that] exists in the defence of peace between what is pronounced, and what is translated into concrete action, between the adoption of lofty goals and norms, and their realisation". Looking at recent wars and armed conflicts, including those in the occupied Palestinian territories, Iraq and Sudan, the book examines a host of issues related to wars and their impact, including the economics of war, landmines, small arms and light weapons, displaced populations and missing persons. "Iraqi civilians have endured over 40 years of conflict and political oppression," the book says. It also notes that "tensions [in Iraq] among religious and ethnic groups [have taken place] since the 1960s, through the Iran-Iraq war, the... Gulf War... and the current military operations..." The book makes no direct reference to the role of the US and the UK in the current aggression. According to the account offered by Wounds of War, at least 7,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the war; other UK-based independent organisations put the number anywhere from 11,000-100,000. The book also says 20,000 civilians have been injured. Population dislocations, deteriorating quality of education and health care, and contaminated environmental conditions are noted as direct impacts of wars in Iraq and Sudan. In the occupied Palestinian territories, Wounds of War pays special attention to the conflict's impact on children and youth who are actively engaged in the Intifada defending their homeland against the aggressive Israeli occupation. "Children in the occupied territories experience violence and mobility restrictions daily, including death and injury to family and friends, damage to their property, and the frustration and poverty they sustain through stifling closures, curfews and home confinement." Wounds of War also looks at matters related to "women in armed movements, violence against women, and girls and child soldiers...Women are not just victims of war; they are also active agents of armed conflicts," note the authors. "In many conflicts, women play multiple roles, including fighters, intelligence, nurses, cooks, porters, and, in some cases, sexual slaves." The authors argue that their book is meant to illuminate the human impact of war by presenting a collage of images, figures, and text, based on the latest research findings, "that cover... 59 wars that took place within 48 locations". The objectives of their effort, they say, are to capture the impacts of modern wars on human societies, and especially women, and to "galvanise energy around the topic of war -- especially on women and girls". The book's ultimate objective, however, like the International Conference on Women Defending Peace, is to build on the "unique ability that women have" to bring about "innovative contributions to peace making" in their immediate communities and the world at large. For women, Mrs Mubarak notes in her preface, "peace is not just the absence of war, nor is peace reached after the cessation of hostilities. The aftermath of war and conflict is felt every time their children innocently suffer the consequences of landmines, every time they discover that their water is polluted, every time they have to rebuild their shattered homes." The book offers its readers a timeline that includes a complete list of the key world conferences and documents that have addressed issues related to women and peace. The timeline begins with the signing of the UN charter at the UN's inception and ends in 2002 with the ratification of the International Criminal Court that codified crimes of sexual and gender violence, which have not been historically addressed in humanitarian law. The timeline gives special prominence to UN Security Council resolution 1325 that documents the major brutalities sustained by women during and after armed conflicts, and which constitutes the basic charter of many women's organisations that address peace-related issues. The authors of Wounds of War are Julie M Lamb, Marcy Levy, and Michael R Reich. It was printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2004 as part of the Harvard Series on Population and International Health. The book tries hard to avoid taking any direct political stances, or blame any particular party, including military occupation forces, for the horrors inflicted on communities, women and children -- which may be why the book's authors and sponsors avoided the straight text format and went for a college of images, figures and text instead. The book is dedicated to "those who give their lives in pursuit of peace, justice and human dignity, and those who seek to heal the wounds of war".
