General

Let me conclude with Liberia. Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee organized women who were fed up with the violence of Liberia’s civil war. When the negotiators went to Ghana, Leymah and her growing movement went too, surrounding the negotiators in their hall to make sure that they did not come out until peace was reached. As she told a reporter at the time, the protest was “a signal to the world that we the Liberian women in Ghana at this conference are fed up with the war and tired of fighting the killing of our people”. Leymah added, “We can do it again if we want to”.

Let us imagine where we would be if every conflict had groups of women like this. Now let us imagine our world if people like Leymah were not just calling for peace from outside conference centres, but if she and others like her were sitting at the table on the inside. Before a conflict, during a conflict and after a conflict, women must have an effective, meaningful and impactful voice. We on the Council must not rest until paper progress becomes tangible progress and check-the-box participation becomes meaningful participation.