A two-day African forum in Cairo was on women, peace and security, Reem Leila attended The African Policy Dialogue Forum on Women, Peace and Security met under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, chairwoman of the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement. The forum, which lasted from 23-25 November, commemorated the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the African Union (AU) year of peace, the launching of the African Decade for Women and the International Day of Ending Violence Against Women on 25 November. The event was attended by more than 100 participants representing 15 African and Arab countries, including Sudan, Jordan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Rwanda, Cameroon, Uganda and South Africa, in addition to representatives of various UN agencies. The conference held several sessions to take stock of what is going on in Africa regarding peace, security and women's protection. Participants explored the root causes of conflict in Africa and strategies, instruments and mechanisms used to mediate these conflicts. The conference also explored results and challenges related to women's participation in and contribution to these processes. The forum provided briefings on international conventions and resolutions supporting Women peace and Security (WPS). Participants were divided into five groups, each conducting preliminary work, designed methodology and management of group work. The world can no longer afford to neglect abuses to which women and children are subjected to in armed conflict and its aftermath, or ignore the contributions that women can make to search for peace. It is time they are given a voice in formal peace building and peacemaking processes that they deserve. While addressing the conference, Mrs Mubarak stated that women are helping to break down barriers to reconciliation and understanding, and creating opportunities for dialogue and cooperation. Women's participation, according to Mrs Mubarak, has been vital in turning fractured communities whole again, rebuilding infrastructure, re-establishing severed relationships and developing new and stronger mechanisms for conflict prevention. "Women possess enormous survival and transformation potential during the difficult time of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction. Women do not just think of themselves as victims, as they search for ways and means to survive and protect those around them," Mrs Mubarak said. African women have proven themselves and demonstrated that they truly deserve the title of "Architect of Peace" in recognition of their perseverance in the midst of war and all its hardships. "It was the exact mindset which inspired UNSCR 1325, so as not to only protect women in conflict situations, but to also acknowledge their role as architects of peace and security," Mrs Mubarak said. Real implementation requires a redoubling of efforts to create an enabling environment that invests in women's and girl's education, in their health and well-being, raising their incomes and increasing gainful employment which are all prerequisites for the overall empowerment of women. Mrs Mubarak shed light on the importance of sufficient financial support. "It is important that international development partners move beyond expressions of intent and pledges alone to concrete action in providing reliable financial assistance in a timely manner," Mrs Mubarak said. Michelle Bachelet, undersecretary-general and executive director of UN women, told the conference that research showed that there are only seven per cent or less women peace negotiators, and that in over 300 peace agreements since 1989, just 18 mentioned sexual or gender-based violence. According to Bachelet, women's priorities in peace processes show that they can make a contribution not just to ensuring that issues of direct concern to them are addressed, but also that issues of relevance to all members of society are addressed. "Leaving women out of peace talks rewards the war-makers, not the social re-builders," Bachelet said. In reality African women are a long way from having full operational readiness in peacekeeping work to detect and prevent widespread or systematic sexual violence. The African Union has pioneered some important protection measures such as firewood patrols and displaced persons' camps to prevent attacks on women while they gather the fuel they need to cook for their families. "UN peacekeepers have worked to improve civilian-military relations in order to generate better intelligence on these attacks," Bachelet revealed. "Sustainable peace is possible only with women's full participation, their daily, equal presence wherever we seek to make and keep peace," Bachelet added.
