US HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 465 “COMMENDING THE EFFORTS OF WOMEN IN THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA TO PROMOTE PEACE”

1. 1325 TRANSLATION UPDATE: SINHALA AND TAMIL TRANSLATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

TOTAL NUMBER OF TRANSLATIONS AVAILABLE: 44

PeaceWomen has just received a Sinhala and Tamil translation of 1325. The two translations were completed by the Social Scientists' Association as part of one of the Shakti Gender Equity Project Sub Projects.

For more information about these translations, contact:
Dr. Kumari Jayawardena, Secretary of Social Scientists' Association
425/15 Thimbirigasyaya Road, Colombo 5. Tel: 2501339
Email: ssa@eureka.lk

For more information about the Shakti Gender Equity Project, visit: http://www.cenwor.lk/shakthi.html

To view the Sinhala and Tamil translations and the other 42 translations, CLICK HERE.

If you know of existing translations or potential translators, please contact sarah@peacewomen.org.

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2. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

LAUNCH OF PEACEWOMEN'S NEW WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS SOURCES INDEX
http://www.peacewomen.org/news/sources/index.html

PeaceWomen is pleased to announce the launch of our new Women, Peace and Security News Sources index. Women, peace and security issues are making the news everywhere, everyday, it is often simply a matter of knowing where to look. PeaceWomen relies on a variety of websites, listservs, e-newsletters, and other e-news services for information on women, peace and security issues. Some sources provide women, peace and security-specific news updates, some include a regularly updated women and gender category which regularly includes peace and security information, and some are mainstream news services which provide occasional coverage of these issues.

Our News Sources list features news sources for all of the regions and countries featured on our website. The list compiled is a work in progress. As we learn of new news sources, we will add them to the chart below. If you have suggestions for news sources to include or other comments and suggestions, please email: Sarah@peacewomen.org.

CHECHNYA'S FIRST WOMEN'S MAGAZINE
July 1, 2004 - (BBC) The first magazine to be targeted at women in Chechnya has been published, according to the Russian television channel NTV. However, the magazine, called Nana, the Chechen word for "mother", has little in common with its glossy Western counterparts. There is no gossip about celebrities or hot fashion tips; instead it focuses on the everyday hardship faced by Chechen women as a result of the fighting in the troubled republic.

PEACE PROCESS OFTEN IGNORES FEMALE EX-SOLDIERS
June 27, 2004 - (WeNews) Under a fierce midday sun, Nicole Ibrehim clutches her semi-automatic rifle, cracked purple fingernail polish glinting in the light and a red beret perched over pierced ears. She waves her gun towards a group of nervous boy soldiers standing nearby and shouts an order in a low, booming voice, sending the boys scuttling.

U.N. EXPERT REPORTS ON VIOLENCE AGAINST PALESTINIAN WOMEN
June 25, 2004 – (UN Wire) The Israeli occupation is a primary cause of violence against women in the Palestinian territories, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women Yakin Erturk said in a statement yesterday.

CENTRAL SULAWESI: POSO WOMEN FIGHT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION BY SECURITY FORCES
June 19, 2004 - (The Jakarta Post) The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has been urged to investigate alleged sexual exploitation of women by security forces in the troubled town of Poso, Central Sulawesi.

SUDAN'S FINAL SOLUTION
June 19, 2004 – (NYT Op-Ed, Nicholas Kristof) In my last column, I wrote about Magboula Muhammad Khattar, a 24-year-old woman whose world began to collapse in March, when the Janjaweed Arab militia burned her village and slaughtered her parents.

NIGERIA: DISPLACED WARRI WOMEN PROTEST
June 17, 2004 - (This Day) No fewer than 50 women displaced in the on going military operations in selected riverine communities in Delta State, yesterday protested their eviction and appealed to the state to allow them and their families return to their homes to save them the agony of being refugees in their own land.

IANSA WOMEN'S NETWORK BULLETIN
June 2004 – (No. 2) IANSA Women's Network Bulletin No. 2 focuses on
Women at Work: Preventing Gun Violence.” It features among other items, an NGO Profile of the Women's Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD) based in Trinidad and Tobago, news on the Central African Republic, Uganda and the Philippines, and a number of new resources on women and DDR.

For more country-specific women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

For more international women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

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3. ECOSOC UPDATE

UN MEMBER STATES REVIEW THE UN SYSTEM'S PROGRESS IN GENDER MAINSTREAMING AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON MOVING FORWARD
PeaceWomen Project, WILPF UN Office
July 2004

ECOSOC notes the importance of implementing UNSC Resolution 1325 and requests that the Secretary-General ensure that all UN entities develop and implement gender action plans

The Economic and Social Council yesterday adopted a draft resolution (E/2004/L.14) on the review of its agreed conclusions 1997/2 on mainstreaming the gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system.

UN Member States worked during the month of June through informal and informal informal language negotiations to reach consensus on the draft resolution in preparation for the start of ECOSOC's consideration of gender mainstreaming in the UN system during its Coordination Segment (2nd and 6th of July 2004).

During the Council's Coordination Segment, ECOSOC's 54 member countries invited UN staff from offices at headquarters and in the field to report orally on the progress made and obstacles confronted in their work to ensure the integration of a gender perspective in UN policies and programmes.

Many of the compromises and delays in the negotiations reflect larger, recurring questions on:

• The UN mandate versus the sovereignty of UN Member States;
• The ability for one UN entity to make recommendations to another, and in particular, to the Security Council;
• The existing language and mandate found in the document on which the review and appraisal is founded; and
• The extent of the impact of the personalities of Member States' representatives.

The UN Member States that were vocal during the informal negotiations, were the following: Azerbaijan (as facilitator), Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Iran, Ireland (on behalf of the European Union), Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nigeria, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States of America.

Two paragraphs in the resolution to highlight for future women, peace and security advocacy:

[ECOSOC] Takes note of work already undertaken to implement Security Council resolution 1325 [of 31 October 2000] on women, peace and security and urges the continued efforts towards its full implementation;

[ECOSOC] Requests that the Secretary-General to ensure that all United Nations entities develop action plans with time lines for implementing the agreed conclusions 1997/2, which address the gap between policy and practice identified in the Secretary-General's report, with a view to strengthening commitment and accountability at highest levels within the United Nations system as well as to the establishment of mechanisms to ensure accountability, systematic monitoring and reporting on progress in implementation;

PeaceWomen monitored the language negotiations and made specific language recommendations for the resolution. We will provide additional analysis in the next edition of 1325 E-News. In the meanwhile, we will continue to post new information on the Coordination Segment and the resolution at: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/UpdateCoordSegment04.html.

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4. FEATURE RESOURCE

House Concurrent Resolution 465 “Commending the efforts of women in the Republic of Colombia to promote peace”
24 June 2004
Submitted by Representative James McGovern (D-MA) to the Committee on International Relations

In early May 2004, Women Waging Peace hosted fifteen Colombian women peace-builders for a conference in Washington, DC, to elevate the voices of women in Colombia and to urge the US government, international governmental organizations, think tanks, and NGOs to promote the inclusion of women in all peace-building efforts in the country. During the conference, at a breakfast event hosted by Representative James McGovern (D-MA), he and other Members committed to introducing and supporting a congressional resolution supporting women's efforts in Colombia.

On 24 June, Representative McGovern, with Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Mike Honda (D-CA) as original co-sponsors, introduced House Concurrent Resolution 465 “Commending the efforts of women in the Republic of Colombia to promote peace.” It has been referred to the House Committee on International Relations for further action.

The full text of the resolution is featured below:

Whereas women comprise 51 percent of the population of the Republic of Colombia;

Whereas women represent the majority of the 2.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Colombia, and women head more than 30 percent of IDP households;

Whereas armed actors have threatened and assassinated leaders of organizations working for peace, human rights, and stability in Colombia;

Whereas sexual violence and other forms of abuse have been used as weapons of war against women in Colombia;

Whereas women in Colombia are taking leadership roles for peace at the local level, establishing informal agreements with armed actors, and forming ‘‘peace zones'' to protect their communities;

Whereas women in Colombia represent diverse political parties and views, and are involved in governmental and nongovernmental leadership positions at the municipal, departmental, and national level;

Whereas women throughout Colombia are leading demands for an end to violence and a return to dialogue and negotiation;

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) mandates the participation of women in peace processes and the representation of women at all decision-making levels for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict; and

Whereas paragraph 2(h) of the Declaration of the Special Conference on Security (2003) issued by the Organization of American States reaffirms the need to increase the decision-making roles of women in conflict prevention, management, and resolution, and to integrate a gender perspective in matters of hemispheric security: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress—

(1) commends the efforts by women and civil society in the Republic of Colombia to mitigate violence in their communities, to advocate for a negotiated solution to conflict, and to develop a common agenda for peace;

(2) reaffirms the importance of including the expertise, knowledge, and experiences of women in Colombia in formal and informal peace dialogues, negotiations, and in decision-making roles to resolve conflict and promote peace and security in Colombia, including the participation of women as planners, implementers, and beneficiaries of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs and security policies in Colombia;

(3) supports the protection of women and their organizations and the defense of fundamental human rights in Colombia; and

(4) calls on the Department of State, including United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, and other appropriate Federal departments and agencies to integrate a gender perspective in United States policies, programs, and activities regarding the situation in Colombia and to support through funding, training, networking opportunities, and other activities the efforts by women in Colombia to promote peace, respect for human rights, and an end to conflict and violence in Colombia.

For a pdf version of the resolution, CLICK HERE.

For NGO and civil society reports, papers and statements, UN and government reports, and books, journals and articles on women, peace and security issues, CLICK HERE.

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5. FEATURE EVENT

WOMEN MEET WITH THE UN DEPUTY-SECRETARY GENERAL TO DISCUSS THE POSITION OF THE SPECIAL ADVISER ON GENDER ISSUES AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
7 July 2004

Last week representatives of women's organizations and the Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York, met with the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Louise Frechette, to discuss the vision and hiring process for the position of UN Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, and to share the mounting concerns from women's organizations about the delay in hiring for this position.

The meeting on 29 June 2004 was scheduled by the Office of the Secretary-General in response to a request to meet with him from women who had participated in the 48th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (1-12 March 2004). It was during the Commission that Ms. Angela King, who had served as the Special Adviser since 1997, announced her retirement, leaving many NGO participants concerned about the future of the position, created out of the 4th World Conference on women in Beijing in 1995.

Ms. Frechette made the following key points at the meeting:

• The appointment of the Special Adviser will be made soon. The Secretary-General has received names from inside and outside the UN system, and as it is necessary to factor in the availability of the Secretary-General and other senior officials for interviewing of the candidates, the hiring process has been slow.

• The Secretary-General will fill the position at the level of Assistant Secretary-General. No changes in the level and mandate of the Assistant-Secretary-General's post are anticipated, although the new appointee will, of course, want to shape her work according to her assessment of the current situation of gender mainstreaming in the UN system.

• The Secretary-General is looking for a woman who will bring to the position of Special Adviser vision and fresh ideas, as well as leadership and leverage within the UN system.

• National action is crucial to the greater integration of a gender perspective and the empowerment of women in the work of the UN. The women's movement and civil society at-large, play a critical role in the creation of the UN agenda because it's the pressure of civil society that moves governments, and the UN is a reflection of governments.

• The Secretary-General can influence the advancement of women through his advocacy role, but it has to be connected to the actions taken by governments and civil society; thus, the Secretary-General needs to hear more from women and men in the women's movement.

• Gender issues at the Millennium Summit will be connected to what happens at the Beijing review and appraisal (March 2005). Ms. Frechette urged women's organizations to determine the two or three most crucial themes addressed during the Beijing review to highlight at the Millennium Summit.

*The organizations that participated in the 29 June meeting were Center for Women's Global Leadership of Rutgers University, NGO Committee on the Status of Women, NY, Women's Environment and Development Organization and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

**The organizations that had requested a meeting during the 48th Session of the Commission with the UN Secretary-General to discuss the position of the Special Advisor were African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Center for Women's Global Leadership, Hague Appeal for Peace, International Women's Tribune Centre, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Women's Environment and Development Organization and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

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6. FEATURE INITIATIVE

PETITION ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA
Ongoing

At the African Union meeting in Maputo in July 2003, the AU adopted the "Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.” The Protocol offers significant potential to guarantee the rights of women. But in order to come into force it needs to be ratified by at least 15 countries and by June 2, only one country (the Comoros) had ratified it.

In preparation for the 2004 AU summit, an alliance of Fahamu, Credo for Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights, Equality Now, the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) and Oxfam have been collecting signatures for a petition to be presented at the Summit calling for ratification of the "Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa,” the full text of which is featured below.

In an update on the campaign, featured in Pambazuka News, Equality Now has written that not only have a number of countries agreed to ratify the Protocol, but the Assembly will also be adopting a declaration on gender which includes a commitment to ratify the Protocol by the end of 2004. In their update they urge readers to continue to publicize the petition in order to collect as many signatures as possible.

For the full update by Equality Now, visit: http://www.pambazuka.org/

To African Union Heads of State

Your Excellencies:

Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

We the undersigned write to you regarding the ratification of the Protocol on the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa by member states of the African Union and urge your Excellencies to ensure the fast tracking of its ratification by your respective governments by the next Heads of States Summit in July 2004.

As you will recall, the Protocol was adopted in July 2003 during the Second Ordinary Session of the Heads of States held in Maputo. Its adoption was celebrated by African women, women's and human rights organizations in Africa and the diaspora as a major step towards finally securing a legal and rights framework for the protection and advancement of the human rights of African women.

However, one month before its first anniversary only 29 of the AU's 53 member states have signed the Protocol and only one (Comoros) has ratified it. This record undermines the stated intention of African governments to protect and promote the rights of all their peoples.

Many women and their families experience social, cultural and economic rights abuses and political discrimination on a daily basis. Physical violence, vulnerability to life-threatening diseases most notably HIV/AIDS, poor educational opportunities and legal barriers around rights to property combine to keep women in Africa as second class citizens as well as inhibiting their ability to contribute fully to the prosperity of the continent.

Our call for the urgent ratification of the Protocol by all countries of the African Union deserves your serious consideration. Ratification will send a clear signal that women and men can and should enjoy equal rights and responsibilities. This enjoyment, in turn, will realise benefits to the whole of the continent.

We in civil society share the dream of the Heads of States that Africa's social, economic and political well-being rests on enabling women's resourcefulness at this time. We trust therefore that you will recognize the urgency of the situation and will facilitate the speedy ratification of the Protocol thereby completing the good work that your Excellencies began in Maputo last year.

Yours Sincerely
African Women's Development & Communication Network (FEMNET)
Credo for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights, Rotimi Sankore - Coordinator
Equality Now, Faiza Jama Mohamed - Africa Regional Director
Fahamu, Firoze Manji - Director
Oxfam GB, Irungu Houghton - Pan-African Policy Adviser

For more information and to sign the petition, visit: http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/petition.php?id=1

For more women, peace and security initiatives – in country, regional, global and international, CLICK HERE.

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7. FEATURE STATEMENT

AFRICA CANNOT DEVELOP UNLESS WOMEN EXERCISE REAL POWER, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE TO ADDIS ABABA SESSION
6 July 2004, African Union session on gender in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In the past year alone, Africa's women have made great strides forward. I congratulate the African Union (AU) on electing five women out of a total of 10 commissioners. This reflects growing recognition that gender balance is crucial to all areas of the AU's work. I also commend African States for adopting the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa to the African Charter on Human Rights, as well as including gender considerations in the protocol that establishes the Peace and Security Council. And of course, I warmly congratulate Gertrude Mongella -- a long-standing friend of the United Nations -- on her election as the first President of the Pan-African Parliament.

Increasingly, Africans understand that their continent cannot develop unless its women exercise real power -- in the home, in the local community, in the nation, and in the Union itself. Indeed, the New Partnership for Africa's Development has set women's advancement, along with the eradication of poverty, as its two key long-term objectives. But let us be clear: inextricably linked with both of those is the need to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. The epidemic is proving a devastating obstacle to development, while taking an increasing and terrifying toll on Africa's women. But women also have an indispensable part to play in all aspects of the struggle against it.

No less important is recognition of the role of women in the work for peace and security. Time and again, women have played a constructive and essential part in peace processes. They are gradually finding a place at the negotiating table, in the implementation of peace agreements, in post-conflict rehabilitation, reconstruction and disarmament. It is high time they were included in those processes in a more formalized way, at all levels and at all stages.

I deplore the fact that sexual and gender-based violence continues to be used as a weapon of war in African conflicts. In parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in the Darfur region of Sudan, gender-based violence has reached almost epidemic proportions. Every effort must be made to halt this odious practice, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

I urge African States to do everything they can to translate into reality the objectives of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security -- and to do so without delay, since implementation of this landmark document will be reviewed by the Council in October this year.

I hope that this gathering will bring fresh impetus and resolve to Africa's efforts for the advancement of women, and help you build further on your achievements so far. The United Nations will continue to do all it can to support you in that mission.

For the full statement, CLICK HERE.

For a related UN news story, CLICK HERE.

For NGO and civil society reports, papers and statements, UN and government reports, and books, journals and articles on women, peace and security issues, CLICK HERE.

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8. NGO WORKING GROUP ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY UPDATE

Peace Support Operations: Consolidating Progress and Closing Gaps in the Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 - Working Roundtable
1 July 2004, Rockefeller Foundation

On 1 July, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, the Permanent Missions to the UN of Canada, Chile and the United Kingdom co-sponsored a UN Security Council working roundtable at the Rockefeller Foundation, entitled “Peace Support Operations: Consolidating Progress and Closing Gaps in the Implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325.”

The roundtable brought together Council members from senior posts including Ambassadors, as well as representatives from select UN agencies and civil society organizations, to discuss developing a tool aimed at improving the incorporation of a gender perspective in the work of the Security Council. The roundtable also offered an opportunity to discuss the Secretary-General's report on the implementation of UNSC 1325, due in October 2004.

The roundtable was a follow-up to an earlier session, held in January 2004, in which participants examined ways to strengthen the Council's work using ‘the three P' framework — conflict "prevention", the "participation" of women in peace and security, and the "protection" of civilians. The conceptual framework of 'the three P's' was developed by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security as a means to call on the Council to better integrate thematic resolutions (such as Res. 1266 and 1296 on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict; 1366 on Prevention of Armed Conflict; 1325 on Women, Peace and Security; and 1460 on Children in Armed Conflict), in advancing peace and human security in all its work.

For information about the January 2004 Roundtable, including the background documents and final outcome documents, CLICK HERE.

The final report and other outcome documents for the 1 July Roundtable will be available by the end of July at: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ngo/wg.html

For information about the NGO Working Group, CLICK HERE.

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9. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY CALENDAR

The 9th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) Biennial Conference
9-13 January 2005, Pontifical Catholic University and the Latin American Parliament, São Paulo, Brazil; Application deadline: 31 July 2004
The conference will be organized around a theme of global significance: the search for solutions to forced migrations. This conference will bring together academics, practitioners, policy makers, government representatives, and forced migrants with a wide array of disciplinary and geographic backgrounds. Leading figures in the field will provide keynote and plenary speeches; panels will explore the sub-themes and issues outlined in the call for papers. All correspondence concerning the conference, including submission of application forms, should be directed to: Heidi El-Megrisi, IASFM Secretariat, c/o Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, 21 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LA, UK. Email: secretariat@iasfm.org, fax: +44 (0) 1865 270 721. For more information, visit: http://www.iasfm.org/pages/11/index.htm.

Code Pink: Women for Peace Events During the Republican National Convention (30 August- 2 September 2004)
Women Against War Concert: 28 August 2004, 7pm, Riverside Church, New York City
Women's Peace Rally and March: 29 August 2004, 11am, Riverside Park at the foot of the Eleanor Roosevelt Statue
This march will join the United for Peace and Justice action planned to protest the Republic National Convention. Fore more information, visit: http://www.codepinkalert.org/National_Actions_RNC.shtml

Workshop: Gender Perspectives in ECOWAS PSO Experience
8-12 November 2004, The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Accra, Ghana
KAIPTC will host a one-week workshop for practitioners and researchers to evaluate the ECOWAS peacekeeping experience from a gender (women, peace and security) perspective. Participants will be drawn predominantly, but not exclusively, from the ECOWAS member states and civil society organizations working in gender, peace and security field. Recommendations from the workshop are intended to ensure that gender mainstreaming is sufficiently incorporated into regional planning training and preparation for peace operations in the future. Limited enrollment. Contact: Commander Phil Harris at: phil.harris@kaiptc.org, or visit: http://www.kaiptc.org/kaiptc/.

For a comprehensive list of Beijing +10 Regional Meetings, CLICK HERE.

For the complete calendar items as well as more calendar events, CLICK HERE.

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