Women Building Peace
January 2011
Banner photo: Syria [© Bruno Morandi/Hemis/Corbis]
Women, Peace and Security Seminar at UNU
Jasmin Nario-Galace addressing the afternoon forum [© Seikyo Shimbun]
The SGI was co-organizer of a seminar titled "Women Making Peace: Where Are We Now? Maximizing the Impact of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, 10 Years On" held at the United Nations University (UNU), Tokyo, Japan, on September 8. Other organizers were Global Action to Prevent War, the UNU and the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG).
The seminar assessed global progress toward implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for increased recognition of and support for the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflict. The event included a morning experts' meeting with 15 participants from UN agencies, NGOs and academia, followed in the afternoon by a public forum and the launch of a book titled Promoting Women's Participation in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies: How women worldwide are making and building peace.
The morning meeting focused on assessing implementation of Resolution 1325 to date, acknowledging some significant successes but overall a lack of real commitment, identifying obstacles to progress--including the need for more accountability within the UN system--and stressing the need for indicators to measure implementation.
Welcoming participants in the afternoon, Ms. Kayo Maeta, chair of the Soka Gakkai Women's Peace Committee, stressed that 1325 is relevant to building a culture of peace even in a country like Japan. She quoted a message from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, who stated: "The underlying message of the Resolution is that the viewpoints and voices of women, which to date have not been given adequate attention, must be heeded and reflected in decision-making processes throughout society."
A message was also read from Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the former Executive Director of UNIFEM, who played a key role in the adoption of Resolution 1325.
In a panel discussion moderated by UNU Senior Academic Programme Officer Dr. Vesselin Popovski, Dr. Jasmin Nario-Galace of the Center for Peace Education at Miriam College in the Philippines shared successes in creating a National Plan of Action for 1325 in her country.
Sarah Taylor, Executive Coordinator of NGOWG, emphasized that the particular and diverse experiences of women need to be brought into every debate concerning peace and security, and international human rights lawyer Mikiko Otani stressed the importance of broadening our understanding of 1325 beyond the view that it is only applicable to countries experiencing armed conflict.
Participants agreed that the ultimate goal should be to build cultures of peace, where women and men are empowered to speak out and take action to address abuses and resolve disputes wherever they occur.
