YWCA NSW Blog

There have been around 1,000 participants at World Council and we’ve been really interested and privileged to hear not only the speakers but also the thoughts of our fellow YWCA’s around the world. As The first part of World Council (International Women’s Summit) wraps up, we’d like to share something from the YWCA Australia blog.

Today, July 13, was the last day of the International Women’s Summit. The theme was Women, Peace and Security. The speakers frequently spoke about Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325), which mandates women’s involvement in peace- and nation-building, while denouncing violence against women during war-time. It also calls for peace with justice.

I’ve heard people speak about why SCR1325 is important but I’ve always wanted to find out what the next step is. The speakers articulated a movement away from seeing, focusing and dealing with conflict as a way of reaching peace to actually articulating what peace should be built upon. When it comes to peace and conflict, there needs to be a systems view taken of the health of a society, namely the position and experience of women – rather than simply a focus on the people holding the guns.

In addition, there needs to be a global system of early warning sign detection and action. For example, inter-community dialogue and reconciliation should be identified as a necessary step to ameliorating conflict long before violence erupts.

Most importantly, women need to be decision-makers and meaningful stakeholders. Not only do they bring a unique perspective, but they are also the ones who suffer the most during conflict and who are often responsible for protecting children and elderly people. Women must also be integral decision-makers in times of peace to prevent conflict. A complete peace cannot be built on half of society.

Josie Swords