INTERNATIONAL: 150 Women from Conflict Areas Met in Montenegro

May 6-8 the Kvinna till KvinnaFoundation arranged the conference ”Reaching out to make a change” in Montenegro for 150 representatives from women's organisationsfrom all over the Western Balkans. Women from the Middle East, Southern Caucasus and Liberia also took part in the meeting.

During the Balkan wars it was women who stayed in contact over conflict borders when no one else did, and this networking have continued. This year is the anniversary for several important events from a peace and women's movement point of view. It is 15 years since the Dayton Peace Accords for Bosnia and Hercegovina was signed and the Beijing conference on women's rights. It is ten years since the break through on UN level for the struggle against sexual violence in war, with the agreement on the UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

In the Balkans, the peace processes continue and the women's movement is participating. How has women's rights developed since the Dayton agreement was signed? What consequences will the EU integrations with it's demands for gender equality effect the women's movement? These are some of the questions discussed during the meeting in Montenegro.

– We hope that “Reaching out to make a change” will give support and power to the women who are participating also from other conflict areas. It is 15 years since the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation started in the Balkans and we know how much experince and knowledge the Balkan women's movement posses. It is important to take charge of this knowledge, says Lena Ag, Secretary General of the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation who will participate in the meeting.

All of the women who were leading in the women's movement and in the peace work during the Balkan wars are participating in the meeting, from all countries in the Westerns Balkans, including Albania. In addition to them Lois Cheche Brutus, today Ambassador for Liberia in South Africa, and one of the leading persons in the Liberian Peace movement, and Sanam Anderlini, USA, who was one of the architects of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and today advisor to several UN bodies.