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Women take ownership of Great Lakes peace efforts
an article by The Elders
Video: The work of The Elders
"Women's leadership matters and must be at the
heart of the peace process in the DRC." Mary
Robinson
At the invitation of UN Special Envoy Mary
Robinson, women from the Democratic Republic of
Congo and the Great Lakes region meet in Burundi
to discuss their role in the peace process.
Mary Robinson is fifth from the left in this group portrait of The Elders. See video for more information.
click on photo to enlarge
Since her appointment as UN Special Envoy for the Great
Lakes Region of Africa in March, Mary Robinson
has been trying to ensure that civil society is at
the heart of peace efforts in the region, after
two decades of armed conflict that claimed 5
million lives and displaced 2 million people.
As part of this holistic approach to peace
building, she is convening a Regional
Conference on Women, Peace, Security and
Development in Bujumbura, Burundi, from 9-11
July.
The meeting, the first of its kind, brings
together 100 women from Burundi, the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda and other
countries of the region to discuss how they can
help achieve peace. The objective is to develop a
road map for the full participation of women in
the implementation and monitoring of the peace
agreement signed in February by 11 heads of state
in the region.
Labelled the “Framework of Hope” by Mary
Robinson, the Peace, Security and Cooperation
Framework for the DRC is considered a milestone in
the efforts to bring about peace to the region.
“It is important that not only governments but
also a wide cross-section of the population in
each country, including women’s groups, know the
details of this Framework of Hope,” Mary Robinson
said. “It is they who will benefit if this
Framework is implemented fully so they should be
ready to hold their governments accountable for
any failure to respond adequately.”
In a letter to leaders of the
region welcoming the appointment of Mary
Robinson as UN Special Envoy on behalf of The
Elders, Kofi Annan emphasised in May that
“ownership of the Framework by the people will
only increase its chances of success in bringing
stability and reconciliation to the region.”
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?,
* * * * *
Latest reader comment:
The 30 articles in CPNN linked to this question make it clear that women indeed have a special role to play in the peace movement. See the following for an historical explanation of why this is true.
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