Organized by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Colombo,
Sri Lanka, the conference brought together women activists from
conflict areas including Sierra Leone, Somalia, Cyprus,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan, the Middle East, India, Pakistan,
Burma, East Timor, Indonesia, Colombia and Northern Ireland. Also
contributing from around the world were leading academics and
specialists who have researched on the theme of women and peace. The
purpose and success of the event created a platform for the sharing
of experiences and strategies amongst women, who are either expert in
the subject, and/or have played an active role in the peace building
and constitution making process of their respective countries.
Local attendants from all parts of the island including the North and
East ranged from academics, to officials in government ministries, to
women peace workers at the grassroots level which hoped to enrich and
invigorate their own work. Their significant participation created a
forum for discussion based on comparative analysis of country
experiences in peace building and constitution making.

Inauguration and Sessions

The conference was opened by the Honourable Amara Piyaseeli
Ratnayake, Minister of Women's Affairs, and was followed by three
distinct foreign participants: Milena Pires, from the Constituent
Assembly of East Timor; Carmel Roulston, member of the Women's
Coalition of Northern Ireland; and Sahar Saba, spokesperson for the
Revolutionary Association for Women of Afghanistan. As the names of
the three countries already suggests, there is a wide scope of rights
and issues in which women in their respected countries must fight
for. For example in Northern Ireland, women are pushing for women's
inclusion in government and politics, while in Afghanistan women are
fighting for the right to survive, including the needs for basic
health care and education.
The conference sessions were structured under six major themes, where
individual and joint presentations analyzed in-dept the objective of
the conference: to identify and articulate the effect of war on women
and the gender specific needs of women during times of war; to
contribute to an understanding of women's roles in peace building and
constitution making; to develop strategies for supporting, developing
and enhancing women's peace building and constitution making
capacities at multiple levels; and to improve the cross-cultural
exchange on the subject.

War's Effect on Women

In helping to assess the impact of armed conflict on women, as well
as identifying women's roles in times of war, this session presented
case studies discussed by the experiences and activism of women from
such diverse places as Indonesia, Sierra Leone and the Former
Yugoslavia. It pointed out that even as men are too often the
architects of war, women suffer its consequences. Women and children
account for the most number of civilian casualties in war. Women and
children make up to 80% of the refugees or internally displaced
persons. Women fall prey to sexual violence, torture, rape, forced
prostitution, sexual slavery, and forced conscription in war. Women
lose fathers, husbands, sons, property, and employment in war. From
the Balkans to Burundi, Sierra Leone to Sri Lanka, women are the
worst victims of war.

Women and Peace

Renowned speakers for this session explored the different feminist
conceptualization of peace and their relevance in contemporary times.
A discussion followed looking at feminism and peace activism, and
women's peace networks. One such contribution came from an important
member to the well-known international peace network of `Women in
Black' which is a means of mobilizing and a formula for action that
begun in Israel in 1988, and has now developed in England, Spain,
Italy, the Former Yugoslavia and the United States.
What this session further expressed is in working towards building
peace in their respective communities, women around the world are
forming strong coalitions that reach across the religious, ethnic and
political divide. But though contemporary women peace builders and
constitution makers can offer valuable insights and may contribute to
a gendered knowledge about their approaches to peace building and
constitution making, little has been made to glean more information
about their initiatives or to develop a comparative analysis of their
strategies. This session was designed for exploring the contributions
of women in transitions from conflict to peace (i.e. cease-fire,
negotiations, peace accords, etc.) It attempted to identify
strategies of women peace-negotiators through an academic-focused
comparative perspective, as well as through an analysis of certain
regional cases, such as the conflict in Kashmir, to the lesser-known
conflict situations as in Cyprus. It was said that the bitter
experiences of women in times of war often make them strong adherents
of peace building and constitution making for conflict resolution.
However, women's roles in and contributions to conflict resolution
are underutilized or wholly ignored in mainstream peace building and
constitution making processes. Nevertheless, this session
demonstrated how women all over the world are devising creative and
effective strategies to ending wars and building peace.
Throughout history, Constitutions that have been designed by men and
women have been invisible, both in the process of constitutional
reform and in the content of the Constitutions. A survey of the
Constitutions of the world will reveal that most, if not all
Constitutions, view women as gendered subjects, i.e. as wives,
mothers etc. It is now an accepted fact that the law and legal
processes are now being viewed as based on male norms and
experiences, and that women's engagement with the law is vastly
different than that of men.
What this session illustrated is the positive changes witnessed this
past decade, where women are now striving to influence constitutional
reform processes. Highlighted were the significant progress and
achievements made in East Timor, amongst others. Experiences from
Northern Ireland, where women have successfully come together in
forming their own political party and have effectively raised the
profile of women in politics was also presented at this session.

Post-Conflict

Women often face severe obstacles and critical neglect to their needs
in the rehabilitation and reconstruction process, as they struggle
against discrimination at every level in trying to feed and house
their families. Moreover, international donor reconstruction
programmes and the distribution of humanitarian aid often fail to
take into account the new economic and social roles women must
fulfill in the aftermath of war. Their essential needs are thereby
inadequately factored in.
The importance of this session therefore explored the practical needs
and strategies interests that are fundamental to women in
post-conflict reconstruction. Special attention was also be paid to
the new economic roles women carve out for themselves, most often as
heads of households. Conversely, it addressed the new challenges
faced by women in their new employment, land and property rights, the
needs of ex-combatant women, etc. Striking examples in this
discussion was the reflex upon the Bangladesh post-conflict
experience to a personal account of a female combatant of a one-time
strong guerrilla movement in Colombia.

Women, Truth, Accountability and Reconstruction

Although rape and other gender-based forms of violence continue to be
among the highest committed war crimes during times of armed
conflict, they still remain the least condemned. This struggle
against impunity must begin with the strengthening of the legal
system and its responsibility in bringing perpetrators to justice.
Furthermore, addressing the victims' needs and providing proper
medical treatment, psychological care and financial compensation is
crucial and must be guaranteed. Fundamentally, these crimes must be
recognized for what they are - crimes against humanity.
This concluding session explored the various roles of women in the
institutions and strategies for post-conflict truth and
reconciliation. In addressing the specific needs of women in the
aftermath of violent conflict, especially their need for
accountability and justice, emphasis will be given to the issue of
comfort women and the Japanese government's legal responsibility for
crimes committed over fifty years ago, to the more recent tragedies
such as in Indonesia.

Progress and Peace

Having hosted the conference, the International Centre for Ethnic
Studies hopes that the inclusion of women in the peace building and
constitution making process in the world will further enhance the
role of women as well as in it's own protracted ethnic conflict hold
potential for achieving peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. And as
seen through the spirit of the closing ceremony, this conference
whilst stimulating discussion via the enriching experiences of
others, has also layed the foundation for the creation of an
international network of women who are committed to working on issues
of peace building and constitutional reform.

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