WPSP Institute Day 4

Day Four – Thursday, June 14

Women, Peace and Security: Women Negotiating Peace

“Bringing women to the peace table improves the quality of agreement reached and increases the chances of successful implementation.” UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon

… “Future mediation processes must create spaces specifically for women to sit at the table… Women cannot be relegated to shouting from the windows because they are not allowed through the doors….” Graca Machel, lead negotiator in the Kenyan mediation process

“Peace that sacrifices women’s rights is not a peace we can afford to support” Secretary Clinton

8:30 a.m. Delegates Arrive at Clapp Library Lecture Hall

Introduction:

The rule of law processes must be shaped by both women and men and must be responsive to both women and men.  However, since 1992 women have represented fewer than three percent of mediators and eight percent of negotiators to major peace processes, numbers that have not markedly improved since the passage over a decade ago of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The United Nations is yet to appoint a woman as lead mediator.  Women are often excluded in post conflict efforts to rebuild. Women are thus prevented from engaging in post-conflict governance and peace consolidation. One of the most important on-going constraints to women’s capacity to engage effectively in conflict mediation and peace-building is the experience of sexual and gender-based violence during conflict and its inhibiting effect on women’s ability to engage in conflict resolution, peace-building, and recovery efforts. This session will analyze concrete strategies to operationalize SCR 1325 which enshrines the critical importance of women’s participation in decision making; the recognition  of the use of sexual violence as  a tactic of war as adopted in SCR 1820 and the realization of SCR 1889 call for women’s participation  across all stages of the peace process.

“ to take further measures to improve women’s participation during all stages  of peace processes, particularly in conflict resolution, post conflict planning and peacebuilding, including  by enhancing their engagement  in political and economic decision-making at early stages of the recovery process, through promoting women’s leadership and capacity…”

9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Women Negotiating Peace and Conflict Resolution

Moderator and Keynote Speaker:  Ambassador Swanee Hunt

Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy and founder of the Women in Public Policy Program at The Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.  Ambassador Hunt was the former US Ambassador to Austria and specialist in the role of women in post- communist Europe. She launched Vital Voices: Women in Democracy.

• Ambassador Michele Sison: Assistant Chief of Mission for Law Enforcement and Rule of Law Assistance in Baghdad, Iraq; former Ambassador to Lebanon and  the United Arab Emirates.

• Hina Jilani - Pakistan’s pre-eminent human rights lawyer, Hina Jilani has represented victims of honor crimes, blasphemy, and forced marriage. She was the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders; Member of the UN International Fact-Finding Commission on Darfur, Sudan; a member of the Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-terrorism and Human Rights; a member of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict and co- wrote the Goldstone Report.
• Professor Vicki Jackson: Harvard Law School’s first Thurgood Marshall Professor of Law of Constitutional Law.  Professor Jackson is an expert on comparative constitutional law.
• Welcome message from Dame Margaret Anstee, former United Nations Under-Secretary General

11:00 – 12:00 p.m. Q/A

12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch- Brackett Reading Room (Library)

Luncheon Keynotes:

Hina Jilani- The Powerful Role of Women in Transitional Justices Processes

Honorable Jane Harman – Former US Representative and Director, President and CEO Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; and US Representative to the Fourth World Conference in Beijing.

1:30 – 5:00 p.m. Afternoon Session

1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Group discussions

Group Discussion and Role Play Moderated by: Dr. Inela Selimovic, Visiting Professor, Wellesley College will work with groups and share her personal experiences during the Balkan War and in transitional justice processes.   

3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Role Play before Plenary

4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Plenary Discussions

Full and Equal Participation of Women in Decision making in the Prevention and Resolution of Conflict

Refer to Materials Session 4 (1-4)

Group One

Transitional Justice: Different Approaches and Models

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of 1) Retributive Justice; 2) Restorative Justice and 3) Reparative Justice

Retributive Justice Retributive justice includes court proceedings and trials for crimes committed. Typically, a trial involves a person charged with the commission of a crime being brought before an arbitrator. Example: Cambodia; Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia established in 2001 by the Cambodian established in 2001 by the Cambodian National Assembly to create a court to try serious crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime, 1975- 1979. Restorative Justice – Truth Commissions Usual mechanisms: truth commissions, healing circles. One of the most commonly used restorative mechanisms has been truth commissions. Truth commissions are established to examine widespread human rights violations that took place during a specified period of time. Truth Commissions have been established in: Uganda, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Chile, Chad, South Africa, Germany, El Salvador, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Burundi, South Africa, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Serbia, Peru, Morocco, Ghana, East Timor, Liberia. Reparative Justice Goal: to repair the injury suffered by victims. Usual mechanisms; restitution, apology Example:  United States: $20,000 was awarded by Congress in 1988 to each American of Japanese ancestry who had been forcibly removed and detained in internment camps located throughout the country during the Second World War. Restitution can be defined as a token paid in compensation for loss or injury.

Group Two

Draft a critical provision of a post- transition Constitution. This should include the Constitutional drafting process as well.

Draft an equal protection clause in a post-conflict constitution; you could also provide access to economic resources for women and men (see examples in materials); How do you include more women in Constitutional Drafting Commissions?

In Afghanistan, provisions on equality under law are included in both the Bonn Agreement and the Constitution.

The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo requires the government to fight all forms of violence against women in public and private life. Notably, the constitution also provides specific protection against sexual violence. See: Democratic Republic of Congo Constitution. Art. 14 (2006).

The Afghanistan Constitution prohibits violence against women more generally, calling for the adoption of measures to ensure the physical wellbeing of women and the family. Article 34 of the Constitution of Cambodia recognizes gender equality in political participation

The Good Friday Agreement in Ireland recognizes the right of women to full and equal political participation, and additionally promotes social inclusion, emphasizing the advancement of women in public life. See Good Friday Agreement, Apr. 10, 1998, Strand 3, Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity, para.1.

Group Three 

Draft a Provision of the Peace Agreement

Role play negotiating a critical part of a peace agreement or conflict resolution. This could include a provision on a parity law; increasing women at the negotiation table; transitional justice arrangement and (including addressing the role of women in conflict and post conflict); and operationalizing Security Council 1325 and other international conventions and agreements.

Examples of Peace Agreements The 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) provided for the establishment of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA). The DPA grants the TDRA authority over the implementation of the DPA in Darfur and general control over the region pending the outcome of the Darfur referendum in 2010. The Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) recognizes the lack of representation for women in Sudanese government and society. The DPA’s provisions attempts to ensure the effective participation of women in government. The 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) provides numerous mechanisms for the protection of women’s rights, including provisions establishing women’s right to participate in government institutions, provisions recognizing the role of women in the economy, and provisions guaranteeing property rights to women. The DPA also requires the Government of Sudan to engage and consult women in the reconstruction, redevelopment, and reintegration efforts in Darfur. The DPA requires that women who are displaced persons have access to financial assistance and that the government create special programs to address the special needs of women in the reintegration process The Darfur Peace Agreement, art. 3, para. 28(a (1) the right marry; (2) maternity and healthcare for pregnant women; and (3) access to education, without discrimination as to gender. The agreement also requires parties to combat harmful customs and other activities that demean the status of women, and to protect lactating women from the death penalty. The Rwandan Constitution’s Preamble enshrines the core human rights treaties and states: We, the People of Rwanda, 1° In the wake of the genocide that was organized and supervised by unworthy leaders and other perpetrators and that decimated more than a million sons and daughters of Rwanda; 2° Resolved to fight the ideology of genocide and all its manifestations and to eradicate ethnic, regional and any other form of divisions; 3° Determined to fight dictatorship by putting in place democratic institutions and leaders freely elected by ourselves;

Group Four

Role-play negotiations between two embassies on the transnational issue of cross -border trafficking

Group Five

Draft the Basic Elements of a Human Rights Institution

1. Constitutional and legislative frameworks which reflect international human rights norms and standards;
2. Effective institutions to promote and protect human rights, including central and local levels governments, central and local parliaments, administrations on both the central and local levels, the administration of justice, constitutional courts, and an independent human rights body, such as a national human rights institution and/or ombudsperson.
3. Procedures and processes ensuring effective implementation of human rights, including avenues of redress for individuals whose rights have been violated, and open, democratic and participatory decision-making processes.
4. Programmes and policies for awareness-raising on human rights including women’s rights, through human rights education in schools, universities and professional education institutions, human rights training for public officials and other relevant professionals, as well as awareness-raising campaigns for the public at large.
5.  The existence of a vibrant democratic civil society with the full and equal participation of men and women, including free, active and independent media and human rights defenders communities.

6:00-8:30 PM Dinner- College Club

Movie and Discussion:

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Women War and Peace

Moderator: Dr. Catia Confortini, Peace and Justice Program, Wellesley College