Updates on "Women making a difference" - openDemocracy online conversation on UN Resolution 1325

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To the UN, from Women Making a Difference
Rosemary Bechler, October 28, 2005
Women from around the world are meeting at the UN in New York to lobby for the full implementation of UN SCR 1325. Our Women Making a Difference bloggers make their proposals for the UN and EU.

FINAL WEEK

The Women Making a Difference blog enters its final week – a time for reflection and thinking about what to do next. We have invited our bloggers to ponder both the fifth anniversary of 1325 and the experiment in communication which they have been involved in now for over a month. We have drawn the kind of attention to issues of Women, Peace and Security which are usually reserved for our most popular articles – and we are convinced that we have a resource package that is really educational as well as humanly fascinating for future audiences as well.
But there are some new articles to look forward to this week too. We finally get to hear from a prominent Iraqi woman, one of many who has risked her life to make a difference in the politics of that country. We hear Emma Bonino MEP’s appraisal of the prospects for Afghan women today, and this is accompanied by Cindy Weber’s unique meditation on the difference between two interpretations of the film, ‘Kandahar’ - by its film-maker on the one hand, and on the other by George W.Bush. There is a final message to our bloggers from one of the grandes dames of the 1325 process.
Do join us for the final stage of our fifth anniversary debate – and give us your comments about the Women Making a Difference blog, and your ideas about what we should aim to do in the future.

WEEK 4: 28 October, 2005

This has been a week when the initiative and interest shifted to New York and the fifth anniversary events at the UN. If you have been involved in these, or are in contact with people who are - we would particularly like to hear your thoughts and impressions of what has been achieved by this fifth birthday, and what is happening that is exciting or not as good as it should be! Please come into the comments spaces following on from Maria Olson’s first, breathless, report-backs from the advocacy group in New York, and tell us what you think! We are continuing our discussion on into the first couple of weeks in November precisely so that we can include your assessment of what has been achieved to date and what must be done next.

The Women Making a Difference bloggers have meanwhile been compiling their message from this month’s exchanges to send to the UN and the EU today. It covers many of the issues that most concern them in their working lives, from how to counter victimisation, to what kind of democracy works best for women, and what kind of media coverage would take the 1325 message out to the wider world. This message will serve as a useful overview or introduction to the discussion that has taken place so far: if you know of readers who are new to our debate, it would be a good place to start. Recent discussion has raised the question of the importance of local credibility for international workers on gender, peace and security – and what threatens it.

In addition, we have published two important articles: Nicola Johnston-Coeterie takes stock of what 1325 has achieved to date from the perspective of International Alert: and Nicola Dahrendorf shares with us her sobering yet constructive account of the challenge – to the UN and to the world at large presented by the levels of sexual violence in the Congo. So it has been a week of good news and tragic news – and plenty for us all to reflect about.

Add your views and reports in the blog: http://www.opendemocracy.net/openblogs/blog/1325women/

Message to the UN and EU from Women Making a Difference: http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-resolution_1325/bloggers_2971.jsp

Nicola Johnston-Coeterier: taking stock of 1325: http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-resolution_1325/power_2952.jsp

Nicola Dahrendorf: sexual violence in the Congo: http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-resolution_1325/congo_2964.jsp

WEEK 3: 21 October, 2005

It is the third week of the Women Making a Difference blog - how time flies! - and we have finally succeeded in what turned out to be the major technical challenge of giving our fellow-bloggers and readers access to the amazing video clip library of Women Waging Peace - in the form of five presentations by Boitumelo Mofokeng, Kemi Ogunsanya, Amneh Badran, Zainab Bangura and Sanam Anderlini. You will find these in the 'About' section.

Daily Links have been striving to keep up with the myriad 1325 events, debates and reports coming out in the immediate run-up to next week's anniversary. We have at least managed to indicate that there is far more to this debate than the albeit sobering question of UN peacekeeper abuse, currently receiving an airing in some of the American and Australian mainstream press. Our bloggers getting ready to send their message to the UN and the EU - why don't you help them get their ideas together by coming into our Comment sections?

Meanwhile, today Maj Britt Theorin - architect of the supporting EU Resolution - has some stern words for the EU five years on. She joins Elisabeth Porter in our debate series on 1325 - who gives us a clear-eyed overview of the current state of play on 1325 implementation in her global survey - 'You cannot dance if you cannot stand' - and argues that the concept of peacebuilding urgently needs expanding. Visit http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-resolution_1325/debate.jsp

Google 'Women making a Difference' today and the chances are that the openDemocracy blog which didn't figure ten days ago - will be second on the list this week - so readers are lurking and listening - time for you to share that comment with us that you have been thinking about... ?

WEEK 2: 14 October, 2005
The Women Making a Difference blog ends its second week with a special week-end link to the openDemocracy archive – Wendell Steavenson’s beautifully observed account of her journey to Afghanistan. We have had daily links to the Inclusive Security Toolkit compiled by International Alert and Women Waging Peace and these will continue throughout next week. Most of our bloggers have now come into the conversation, and are beginning to turn their minds to some of the recommendations they wish to make in the run-up to the anniversary of 1325 on October 31.
It is going well. Here at openDemocracy, we have decided to extend the debate into November.

Readers have been commenting on many blog posts. A few of their comments:

“Women, because they live longer, are the majority in all democracies. They have the capacity to change the government at the next election in all democracies. Why do they not use this power to put forward their interests and perspectives? It is futile to be pleading with a male dominated power structure when you have the power to change it yourselves. Don't just complain go and do it.”

“Although we did manage to reach large audiences and many women from various backgrounds (today many women know about 1325)- we still face the same problem: That Israeli women do not want to engage with the political situation and to see themselves as holding real power! In a sense, no matter how much we try, the big problem is still to break the taboo around the basic possibility for women to think about peace and security!”

“ OF COURSE we need women like yourself in senior positions on UN PeaceKeeping Missions..but we also need to be putting far more effort into empowering and listening to those women left most vulnerable yet who have such responsibilities. Widows. Failing to address this huge category of women, gathering information on their situation and that of their dependents breaches the very essence of 1325.”

Please come and engage them in debate – we look forward to seeing you there...

On Monday, Lesley Abdela launches our series of articles taking stock of 1325 with a call to action.

WEEK 1: 7 October, 2005
We have got off to a good start this week, with splendid contributions from Sanam Anderlini, Mu Sochua, Ancil Adrian Paul, Boitumelo Mofokeng, Kemi Ogunsanya, Angela Castellanos, Inge Relph, Jo Wilding, Lina Abifareh, Cindy Weber, Visaka Dharmadasa ­ and readers posting comments. Our first article was published on Thursday: Srilatha Batliwala’s challenge to the bloggers ­ ‘Let’s take a look at our historic expectations of what women’s emancipation would bring ­ and face facts, particularly when it comes to women and positions of power.’ We are confident that this will cause some debate.

The other bit of news is that Inge Relph, on behalf of the Women Making a Difference blog, was invited to take part in a short discussion on today’s Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4. The debate was around women’s rights and democracy, and Inge managed to defend the challenge implicit in UN Resolution 1325 against a lot of criticism from her co-speaker ­ Robert Whelan, Deputy Director of Civitas. We hope we’ll be talking about that as well over the next few days. Anyone who can access the BBC can listen to that conversation which was around 25 minutes into the programme.

Lastly WomenWagingPeace have just sent us some marvellous video clips, so our original vision is beginning to materialise.
What we need now in this new space we have created just for the 1325 anniversary month, is lots of comment in our comment spaces – to show our readers, and indeed our bloggers, just how interesting this debate can be! If you want to comment on something new – just hook into one of the more general posts and say that it is about time they turned their attention to – whatever it is that interests you!
Rosemary Bechler and the 1325 team at openDemocracy

Srilatha Batliwala http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy/women_2900.jsp
Women Making a Difference blog http://www.opendemocracy.net/openblogs/blog/1325women/