Focus on Burma

1. EDITORIAL
The PeaceWomen Team

As we publish this September edition of the PeaceWomen 1325 E-News, the attention of the world is turned to events unfolding in Burma. From our Feature Statement from WILPF (Item 3), “The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom sends greetings, solidarity and support to citizens of Burma, who courageously and non-violently stand up for peace and freedom in their country.” As also noted there, women have suffered in specific ways during the course of the brutal military dictatorship in that country. Amongst the violations suffered by women are the crimes of sexual violence to which attention is drawn in this month's Feature Analysis (Item 5). Here the Global Justice Center – to whom we are grateful for this insightful contribution – makes the point that the current violence which the world is noting now is not new and has been used “as a means to retain control over the people of Burma for decades and the rape and torture of ethnic women has been and still is a central component of this terror.” The piece importantly notes the opportunity presented for the Security Council to take seriously its commitments under Resolution 1325 and decisively to act when sexual violence is perpetrated in such circumstances. It is important that commitment to this vital tool be shown in country-specific contexts and not merely in annual rhetorical debates. Women's groups for their part continue to engage with the resolution and efforts are continually being made to ensure its availability to local actors. The PeaceWomen Translation Initiative is part of this effort and we have included in this month's Translation Update (Item 7) reference and links to the 8 Burmese language translations of 1325. As an extension of this effort we feature our “1325 in Translation Initiative” through which we examine the usefulness and importance of having 1325 available in local languages and also seeks to collect 1325 tools and materials in these languages.

The importance of engaging in concrete action and reaching beyond rhetoric cannot be overstated. It is hoped, as we approach the seven-year “anniversary” of 1325, that the Security Council finds ways to itself take action and to move implementation efforts forward. An area in which the need to take action could not be more urgent is that of sexual and gender-based violence. As a first step, there needs to be better monitoring and reporting on such violence to the Security Council and we hope to see mechanisms put in place to ensure that this happens. While non-governmental group's continue to report on trends and incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, the reporting to Council from the Secretary General remains limited and wholly inadequate. Many actors are working to consider ways in which to improve this state of affairs within the UN system and the Security Council too must play its part. In the meantime, the work of women's groups and others to document the use of sexual violence remains critical. This is part of the larger contribution that women's groups make to building sustainable peace. Burma provides many impressive examples of such efforts. One of the many initiatives of the Women's League of Burma is that featured in this newsletter (Item 4). We encourage concerned actors to participate in their postcard campaign which asks the question “Is Defending Basic Rights a Crime?” As we realize in the case of Burma, many women defending basic rights are in fact persecuted or treated as criminals. The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is one important example of this but many other pro-democracy and human rights activists are facing similar oppression – as seen in items featured in this month's news section (Item 2) which highlight the issue in Burma and elsewhere. The critical role of women human rights defenders is the subject of this month's Feature Resource (Item 6) – a guidebook to acknowledge their role in promoting and protecting rights and to further empower them. The role of women in peacebuilding more broadly is the subject of several excellent events featured in our Calendar (Item 9) and is also the topic of this month's NGOWG Update (Item 8). This features the report of a recent roundtable on women, gender and the Peacebuilding Commission organized by the NGOWG on Women, Peace and Security and International Alert.

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The closing note to this month's editorial is a personal one: the PeaceWomen Team wish to extend a sad farewell to PeaceWomen Project Associate Milkah Kihunah who is leaving us in October for new and exciting endeavors. Her contribution to the Project over the last two years is deeply valued and she will be sorely missed as a colleague and friend.

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We continue to welcome contributions to the newsletter's content. Contributions for the October 2007 edition should be sent to enewssubmissions@peacewomen.org by Thursday 18 October 2007.

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2. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

Burma: Women Activists in Hiding
September 27, 2007 – (Irrawaddy.org) Among the Burmese pro-democracy activists in hiding are many courageous and committed women who have played leading roles in the recent demonstrations against sharp price increases in fuel, which began on Aug 19. Authorities have been hunting down at least two dozen activists.

Nobel Women's Initiative: The Nobel Women's Initiative condemns Burma arrests
September 1, 2007 – (Burmanet.org) The Nobel Women's Initiative condemns the Burmese government for its continued suppression of the democratic rights of its citizens and calls for the immediate release of all protestors arrested for participating in demonstrations against the regime's exorbitant increase in fuel prices. It is unacceptable that the citizens of Burma be denied the right to free speech and peaceful protest.

Aung San Suu Kyi appears at protest in Burma
September 23, 2007 – (Telegraph.co.uk) A Buddhist monk in Burma has described how Aung San Suu Kyi came out of her home and paid her respects to monks protesting against the ruling military junta.

FINLAND'S PRESIDENT SUPPORTS CREATION OF NEW UN AGENCY ON GENDER ISSUES
September 26, 2007 – (UN News) The President of Finland today backed the creation of a new United Nations agency to deal with gender issues and urged greater involvement of women in peacemaking and peacekeeping.

SOUTH AFRICA: WOMEN, THE STATE AND AFRICA
September 21, 2007 - (Pambazuka News) Amina Mama writes, As South Africa debates the political challenges associated with the ANC's year-end conference at Polokwane, this is perhaps a good moment to think beyond immediate struggles and to consider what women have achieved beyond the borders of this country.

MACEDONIA:1325 REASONS
September 21, 2007 - (OneWorld) On the occasion of September 21, the International Day of Peace, the Journalists for Women and Children Rights and Environmental Protection nongovernmental organization, in cooperation with the French Caritas, launch the “1325 Reasons Why!” campaign. The campaign aims to pressure the Parliament of Macedonia to ratify the UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

LAUNCH OF UN ACTION PLAN TO EMPOWER WOMEN
September 20, 2007- (MONUC NEWS) Wednesday September 19 2007 marked the official launch in Kinshasa's Grand Hotel of UN resolution 1325 in the DRC, entitled "Women, Peace and Security." The resolution envisages an action plan aimed at empowering women in order to have gender equality and a durable peace, where there is no impunity for sexual violence and other human rights violations against women.

BOTSWANA: WHAT OF WOMEN IN POLITICS?
September 20, 2007 (AllAfrica) There will be no special dispensation for women as political parties go to the primaries in preparation for the 2009 general elections putting into doubt the parties' commitment to women, empowerment.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: FUNDAMENTALISM TODAY – DEMOCRATIC AND FEMINIST RESPONSES
September 18, 2007 - (OneWorld) Provoked by the threat of strengthened ultra-right movements and use of religion to spread anti-democratic and anti-women policies in the world, the Woman and Society Centre Sarajevo and Women in Black Belgrade cooperate on a project designed to articulate strategies of resistance to fundamentalism as biggest threat to democracy, human rights and in particular women rights today.

IRAN: 25 WOMEN'S RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS ARRESTED
September 18, 2007 – (Women living under muslim laws) An educational workshop on women's rights in Khoram Abad was disrupted after police violently attacked participants and took them into custody.

DRC: CALL TO ADDRESS SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE EAST
September 14, 2007 - (IRIN) The international community must take urgent action to eliminate rampant sexual violence in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Stephen Lewis, former UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa, has said.

BURUNDIANS SAY PEACE MUST INCLUDE TOUGH RAPE LAWS
September 13, 2007 - (WOMENSENEWS) As postwar Burundi prepares for a reconciliation process based on South Africa's, women's rights advocates say the first step must be bringing the perpetrators of sexual violence to justice.

JORDAN: PROJECT LAUNCHED TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
September 12, 2007 – (IRIN) Jordanian officials have joined hands with the private sector to fight violence against women by launching a five-year project that will attempt to rectify misconceptions about this phenomenon and provide badly needed aid to victims, say women rights activists.

CÔTE D'IVOIRE: ALARMING UPSURGE IN REPORTED RAPE OF GIRLS, UN REPORTS
September 7, 2007 - (UN News Service) The most basic rights of children are violated in Côte d'Ivoire, the West African country split between the Government-controlled south and the Forces nouvelles-held north since 2002, and there is "an alarming degree of violence against children at the community level," according to a new United Nations report.

MOROCCO: QUOTAS OVERPOWERED BY MACHISMO
September 7, 2007 – (AllAfrica) When Morocco held legislative polls a decade ago, just two women were elected to the lower house of parliament in this North African country. Legal reforms enacted since have ensured that women will fare better when the latest parliamentary ballot gets underway Friday. But for activists, there is still a long way to go in bringing gender parity to the Chamber of Representatives.

NATO PROVINCIAL RECONSTRUCTION TEAMS NEED A GENDER POLICY, SAY AFGHAN ADVOCATES
September 6, 2007 - (Advocacy Net News) Advocates for women's rights in Afghanistan are urging NATO to develop a gender policy for NATO's 25 provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs), in an effort to better address the needs of women and bridge the gap between military and civilian reconstruction efforts.

KENYA: WOMEN DEMAND GREATER SAY IN ODM DECISION MAKING
September 4, 2007 - (AllAfrica) The women in the Orange Democratic Movement have called on the party's hierarchy to formulate rules conducive for more women to venture into politics.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: SADC SUMMIT POSTPONES SIGNING OF GENDER PROTOCOL
September 4, 2007 – (AllAfrica) SADC leaders have deferred the signing of the Protocol on Gender and Development because some member states need more time to conclude internal consultations following late changes to the document.

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

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

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3. FEATURE STATEMENT - WILPF

WILPF Statement on the situation in Burma
24 September 2007

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom sends greetings, solidarity and support to citizens of Burma, who courageously and non-violently stand up for peace and freedom in their country. A reign of terror has prevailed in Burma since 1962, the population being brutally repressed by a military dictatorship; women have suffered in terrible and specific ways.

The international community has tolerated this military junta far too long. Its silence has protected a culpable economic exploitation by actors who must be made to cease their profiteering and deal-making with the regime, currently headed by General Than Shwe. The current culture of impunity must come to an end, and those who have committed grave violations of international humanitarian law must be justly prosecuted.

WILPF calls on all Member States of the United Nations to:

Refuse the credentials of the Myanmar delegation to the 62nd UN General Assembly, recalling the precedent of the GA's refusal to recognise the apartheid regime as representative of South Africa's population on 13 November 1970 in Resolution 2636

Utilize the current meeting of the Human Rights Council to re-establish the Special Procedure on Myanmar and call for implementation of the recommendations of Special Rappoteur Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro (Brazil)

Consider the reports of the Special Rappoteurs on Myanmar and call on the regime to allow them access to the country for the first time since 2003.

Demand that UN humanitarian actors be given access to provide needed assistance to the estimated 500,000 internally displaced persons,

Demand that Aung San Suu Kyi be released from house arrest and permitted to exercise her political and human rights and freely enter the UN house

Exert pressure on the Than Shwe military regime that it respect the peaceful demonstrations for democracy currently taking place in Burma

Call on the military regime to engage in immediate talks with the democracy leaders, who maintain a long-held position of non-violence and support for dialogue and negotiation.

The terror and profiteering in Burma must end – the time for decisive action is now.

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For other WILPF statements, please visit: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/statements/sindex.htm
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4. FEATURE INITIATIVE

The Women's League of Burma
Message to all our friends inside Burma and around the world

Friends,
June 19, 2007 was the 62nd birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. She has now been in detention for nearly 11 years and 8 months since 20 July 1989.

With the theme “Is Defending Basic Rights a Crime?”, WLB has launched a postcard campaign against the Burmese military regime, the State & Peace Development Council (SPDC), to oppose their unlawful detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and other human rights advocates.

Please send the postcard to the nearest SPDC embassy in your area.
In solidarity,
Sisters from the Women's League of Burma
For more information, please contact:
Nang Yain
General Secretary
+66 9 858 4668

To view the postcard, please click HERE

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For more Global & Regional Initiatives, click HERE

For more Country-specific Initiatives, click HERE

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5. FEATURE ANALYSIS

The Security Council is Obligated under Resolution 1325 to Act Now to Stop the Wide-Spread Crimes of Sexual Violence Against the Women of Burma
Global Justice Center, September 2007

“China…should be reminded that gang rape is not an Olympic sport, but a war crime.”
Janet Benshoof, President, Global Justice Center and long time Burma activist

The current violence being employed against the people of Burma by the ruling military junta is not new. Violence has been used as a means to retain control over the people of Burma for decades and the rape and torture of ethnic women has been and still is a central component of this terror. The recent uprising and violent response provides an opportunity for the Security Council to carry out its own mandate under Resolution 1325, providing critical leadership to a resolution which holds great promise for women that has yet to be realized. Resolution 1325 should impose an independent and additional obligation on the Security Council to intervene when acts of sexual violence are being perpetrated against women in a widespread or systematic manner, as a weapon of war or as an instrument of genocide.

Numerous reports by women's groups from Burma have documented the widespread use of rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence. [See License to Rape, Shan Women's Action Network ; Shattering Silences, Karen Women's Organization; Catwalk to the Barracks, Mon Women's Organization; No Safe Place, Refugees International; Poisoned Flowers, Palaung Women's Organization.] It is time that crimes perpetrated by State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) leaders are no longer buried under the rubric of human rights violations, but called what they are: war crimes, crimes against humanity and potentially even genocide. In addition to its obligations to act under its Chapter VII mandate to maintain international peace and security as well as under Resolution 1674 on the Responsibility to Protect, the Security Council has an obligation to act to stop the wide-spread use of sexual violence against the women of Burma under Security Council Resolution 1325.

Resolution 1325 remains today more a promise than a reality due in part to a lack of enforcement and accountability mechanisms, but the use of SCR 1325 in a legal context is undeveloped. The Security Council should take the lead in enforcing what it so progressively took the lead in passing. The Security Council should immediately take all actions necessary to stop the murders of innocent people in Burma and hold the military junta commanders criminally accountable under every means possible, including under Resolution 1325. The Global Justice Center is an NGO based in New York that provides legal representation for women leaders in developing democracies and transitional justice situations to ensure strategic and timely enforcement of international equality guarantees. (www.globaljusticecenter.net)

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6. FEATURE RESOURCES

Claiming Rights, Claiming Justice: A Guidebook on Women Human Rights Defenders
APWLD, September 2007

This guidebook is an important initiative to acknowledge the valuable contribution of women human rights defenders in the promotion and protection of human rights, and to empower them further in their role. It builds on their achievements, including those attained in the framework of the three-year international campaign on women human rights defenders.

For the full report, please click HERE

For NGO and civil society reports, papers and sta8tements, UN and government reports, and books, journals and articles on women, peace and security issues, please click HERE

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7. TRANSLATION UPDATES: BURMESE LANGUAGES

1325 Translation Update: Total number of available translations: 80

Burma's official language is Burmese, which is spoken by approximately 65% of the population. There are four major language families: Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, Tai-Kadai, and Indo-European, and a wide variety of languages are spoken, especially by ethnic minorities. 1325 is available in the following languages of Burma:

Burmese

Kachin

Karen

Karenni

Kuki

Lahu

Pao

Rakhaing

Shan

The majority of the above translations were coordinated and produced by the Women's League of Burma (an umbrella women's organization comprising 11 women's organizations from Burma)
Email: wlb@womenofburma.org
Website: http://www.womenofburma.org/

To view available languages of Burma and other featured translations on the Peacewomen website, please visit:
http://www.peacewomen.org/1325inTranslation/index.html

If you know of existing translations of 1325 which are not among the 80 on the PeaceWomen website, or would like to volunteer as a translator, suggest potential translators or add languages to the list for priority translation, please contact Milkah@peacewomen.org

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Other languages currently on the priority list are:

Achehnese (Indonesia)
Acholi/Luo (Northern Uganda, W. Kenya, South Sudan)
Aymara (Bolivia, Peru)
Embera (Colombia)
Hmong (spoken in Laos, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Southern China)
Luganda (Uganda)
Malayalam (South Indian)
Mongolian
Oshiwambo (Namibia)
Paez (Colombia)
Pashto (Afghanistan)
Pidgin (Papua New Guinea)
Quechua (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Northern Chile, Argentina, Southern Colombia)
Romani (or Romany)
Sangho (Central African Republic)
Shilook (Sudan)
Wayu (Venezuela)
Wayunaiki (Colombia)
Xhosa (S. Africa)
Zande (Sudan)
Zulu (S. Africa)

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USING 1325 IN TRANSLATION

As part of its 1325 Translation Initiative, PeaceWomen is soliciting information on how translations of Resolution 1325 are being used and the impact of these translations on the work of women peace and security advocates.

We invite anyone who has used translations of 1325 for outreach, advocacy or other purposes, or who may know how translations of the resolution are being used, to provide us with information detailing among other things:

• Which particular translation(s) of 1325 you have used or know are being used

• Who carried out the translation (if known) or how the translation(s) was accessed

• The types of activities for which this translation(s) has been used (e.g. workshops, radio programs) and your views about the impact of such activities in promoting resolution 1325
• What you believe to be the importance of translating Resolution 1325 into local languages

Kindly contribute to the “Using 1325 in Translation” effort by responding to these questions or submitting any other information on translating UNSCR 1325 to info@peacewomen.org

For more information on the “using 1325 in translation” initiative, please visit:
http://www.peacewomen.org/1325inTranslation/using_1325_translations/inde...

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8. NGOWG Update

Integration of Gender Priorities in the UN Peacebuilding Commission

The Peacebuilding Commission can play a central role in the implementation of SCR 1325 at the local and national levels, by coordinating, promoting and supporting engagement with women's groups and in mobilizing political will at the national level to further advance gender priorities and policy, including in regard to Security Sector Reform.

In June 2007, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, in conjunction with International Alert initiated a roundtable focusing on the gender dimension of peacebuilding in Sierra Leone and Burundi, entitled “Enhancing Security and the Rule of Law: How can gender be better integrated into the priorities of the UN Peacebuilding Commission?” The Roundtable was sponsored by the Permanent Missions of the Kingdom of Norway to the United Nations and the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations,

The outcome document prepared in response to the roundtable is now available.

For the Full Report, please click HERE

For more information visit: http://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/

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9. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY CALENDAR

Conference: Examining Present Achievements, Building Future Peace and Justice
Armenia, October 2-5, 2007

This conference will consist of bringing 30 female mayors and leaders from border villages in Armenia and Artzakh (Nagorno Kharabakh) to convene in Hadrut and Stepanakert (Artzach) for a three-day conference, to discuss specific roles of women in sustaining stability and peace in complex situations in border regions. The Conference aims at designing models of effective inclusion of women in the peace process, taking into consideration local realities and international experience. This Conference will also examine current problems related to security and stability in situation of “frozen conflict“. The participants will work on preparing recommendations to enhance security and foster development in their communities.The format of the conference will consist of an opening session, a series of panel discussions, and a concluding session with a rollout of conclusions and recommendations. The Conference is organized by the NGO“Democracy Today” in partnership with Kwina till Kwina.

Tel. : 3741531956; 3741565680 or mobile : 091424559
Email : Gulnara.Shahinian@gmail.com

Book Reading: “Women Building Peace: What they do, why it matters”
Celebrate the 7th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security with Sanam Anderlini on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 5:30 pm in New York City at 777 United Nations Plaza.

In her book, Sanam Anderlini offers a comprehensive, cross-regional analysis of women's peacebuilding initiatives around the world. Anderlini also traces the evolution of international policies in this arena and highlights the endemic problems that stunt progress. Her astute analysis, based on extensive research and field experience, demonstrates how gender sensitivity in programming can be a catalytic component in the complex task of building sustainable peace, and provides concrete examples of how to draw on women's untapped potential.

For more information, please contact Cora Weiss at cweiss@igc.org

Responding to Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation in South Asia: A Regional Conference in India
10-11 October 2007, New Delhi

As the guardian of the UN Protocol against Trafficking in Persons, UNODC is taking the lead on an initiative to produce a turning point in the fight against trafficking in persons. It is called the UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (or UN.GIFT).

To launch UN.GIFT in South Asia, UNODC is organizing a major awareness-raising event in New Delhi on 10-11 October 2007. This Conference – entitled the “South Asia Regional Conference on Human Trafficking” – will bring together private sector leaders, government officials, civil society organizations, and partnering UN agencies in order to generate strategies and declare support for combating human trafficking, especially the trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation. Aside from opportunities to network, share best practices, and mobilize funds, one key result of the event will be the announcement of a Delhi Declaration, which will lay the foundation for post-conference follow-up. The Government of India (through the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Women and Child Development) is partnering with the UNODC for the October conference.

For more information, please click here

54th Jane Addams Children's Book Awards
October 19, 2007 at 2:30 PM, 777 United Nations Plaza (2nd Floor) on the corner of 44th St. and 1st Ave.

This annual event offers a memorable afternoon of presentations, responses by honorees or their representatives and an opportunity to meet and talk with each honored guest. This year, we are expecting honorees Cynthia Kadohata, Amy Lee Tai, Felicia Hoshino, Elizabeth Winthrop, Tim Tingle and Jeanne Rorex Bridges. A reception and book signing will follow the presentations, with the honored books available for purchase.

For more information, please click here

Gender, War, and Militarism-An International Conference
Alice Paul Center for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
October 25-26, 2007

For more information, please click here

2-day International Conference
Gender, Rights and Empowerment in Southeast Asia
October 30-31 , 2007, Bangkok, Thailand

The aim of this conference is to analyze women's socio-economic roles, their changing contexts and opportunities, and the efforts made by governments and NGOs to enhance their contributions. Specifically, the objectives are:

1. To analyze gender issues and the socio-economic role of women in the traditional and modern sectors,
2. To provide countrywide data on opportunities and constraints on women including status of women in education, health, politics, natural resources and civil society,
3. To document lessons learned from GOs' and NGOs' programs,
4. To review the state of women's studies in developments efforts,
5. To suggest policy measures to improve education and opportunities to enable women at all levels to participate in the new economic order effectively, and
6. To set a new tone of discussion on globalization and development as partnership between men and women for reconstructing family, community and work in the new economic order of the 21st century.