. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .
An article from Telesur TV
Colombian women, under the banner of “One Million Women for Peace,” are demanding a greater role in the peace talks between FARC insurgents and the government as negotiations wrap up.
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The group has been growing its ranks in an effort to promote the signing of the peace deal and prepare for post-conflict stability, sociologist and human rights activist Gloria Florez told Prensa Latina on Wednesday.
According to the activist, the newly-formed bloc aimes to create a community movement to provide popular backing for the talks, which began in 2012, and promote implementation of the deal.
The movement brings together farmers, artists, journalists, youth and political representatives of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. On Tuesday, women at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues insisted they be included in peace processes around the world because “women are pushing the culture of peace and not the culture of war.”
The decades-long conflict in Colombia has killed about 300,000 people, while six million remain displaced from their homes and another 45,000 remain missing. The “One Million Women for Peace” campaign argues that women are essential in building alternatives once the militarization is negotiated, said a former cabinet member of the Bogota municipality.
Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?
The 40 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.