ONTARIO COUNCIL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2003

The four Clubs in the Ottawa area (Orleans, Ottawa, Nepean & Kanata) hosted the 2003 Ontario Council AGM at the Lord Elgin Hotel in Ottawa on October 17th and 18th.

From Dates & Data, January, 2004: The theme of the Ontario Council AGM was Women and Peace. In keeping with that theme, the Saturday afternoon panel explored the different roles women play in peace. The panel consisted of:

Christine Turkewych, Moderator
Senator Lois Wilson, Founder of the Joint Government and NGO Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security
Maggie Paterson, Senior Policy Analyst Gender Equality, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Suehaile Elkateb, Policy Advisor Peace-building and Human Security Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT)
Linda Souter, Immediate Past President International Federation of University Women (IFUW)

The first speaker, Senator Wilson, stressed the important role that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) played in the development of UN Resolution 1325 concerning the role of women in peace-building and the necessity for women to be included in all aspects of peace-building. She continued by outlining the results of the government delegation she lead to North Korea. Findings included the collapse of economic activity caused by loss of power previously provided by the former Soviet Union - factories shut down, inadequate supplies of electricity for lighting or lack of purified water for most of the population. During her visit she had the opportunity to attend a conference of women from both North and South Korea. The participants emphasized their cultural solidarity and explored ways of building peace.

Senator Wilson proposed that there was need for a similar conference of Canadian women under the age of 30 of Korean ancestry. The purpose would be to explore the question of how they can help promote peace and security in Korea through communication with the Korean women. The added benefit to Canada would be the provision of a "listening post" in Korea.

Finally, Senator Wilson expressed concern that current Canadian policy towards North Korea follows the lead of the United States and this approach is not as useful in promoting peace as one of open dialogue and negotiation in a spirit of mutual respect and trust would be.

The second panelist to address the meeting was Linda Souter. Linda outlined the purpose and determination of IFUW to build a more peaceful world through its participation in the League of Nations and subsequent United Nations conferences and agencies. IFUW recognizes the need for peaceful action to start in the home and community; peace education has always been a focus of IFUW. The IFUW Study and Action Programme for the current triennial focuses on Human Security, Human Rights and Fostering a Culture of Peace. Linda quoted the following definition of peace-building, provided by a team of IFUW Fellowship winners: "Peace-building includes gender-aware and woman-empowering political, social, economic and human rights. It involves personal and group accountability and reconciliation processes that contribute to the reduction or prevention of violence. It fosters the ability of women, men, girls, and boys in their own culture to promote conditions of nonviolence, equality, justice, human rights of all people to build democratic institutions and to sustain the environment."

Linda outlined the activities of IFUW in the areas of 1) advocacy for peace, 2) support for Peace-building projects in numerous countries around the world and 3) personal commitment and action by individual members of IFUW's 72 national associations. Linda emphasized the need for CFUW Clubs and individuals to hold the Canadian government accountable for the documents it has signed on our behalf, including UN resolution 1325 as well as numerous conventions on human rights and the status of women. Experience in Canada indicates that it is easiest to access government ministers in their home ridings to make our concerns heard. She encouraged those present to take a look at the IFUW website: www.ifuw.org http://www.ifuw.org to access resources developed to assist Clubs and individuals wishing to become involved in conflict resolution and education for peace-building as well as to review documents developed to support advocacy efforts. She also underlined the responsibility of CFUW Clubs to promote IFUW resolutions at the national, provincial and local levels to ensure that the policies are implemented here in Canada.

Linda promoted the IFUW Bina Roy Development fund as a means for Clubs to support peace-building efforts and concluded by listing 6 items included in the UNESCO Manifesto for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence as a means for individuals to become personally involved in peace-building.

The third panelist, Suehaile Elkateb, addressed peace-building from the perspective of development agencies such as CIDA. For these agencies, peace-building is the development of activities that provide incentives for peace and disincentives for conflict. At this point in time, long-term sustainable development strategies are required. At the present time, there are 37 conflicts in 30 countries - 80% of all wars are in Africa. In WWI, civilian casualties represented less than 5% of all casualties. Today, more than 50% of war casualties are civilian!

Suehaile noted that in times of conflict, the women's roles improve, even as they become more vulnerable. They often flee with their children, while the men who remain behind are often killed. Conflict also allows women to move out of traditional roles and then, when peace develops, they are expected to return to more traditional roles. During conflict, women often become victims of sexual assault while men and boys are mass murdered.

Post conflict, the negotiation of the peace accord is pivotal in delineating the conduct of behaviour and protecting the rights of women and girls. Often women play minor roles in the peace negotiations and their interests are not discussed. There are repeated reports of harassment and sexual assault by the peace-keepers. Women and children do not have the same access to resources and training in the post-conflict reconstruction.

She completed her presentation by reminding the group that gender is about power and that currently, the power resides with the men. Women need to be supported to participate in peace-building to ensure their needs are considered as well.

The final speaker was Maggie Paterson. She began by identifying the 3Ds - Diplomacy, Defence, Development; What's Gender Got to Do With It? The whole area of security, peace and conflict is perceived as a male domain. That perception has to be changed before women will be more actively included.

Maggie stressed the critical role that NGOs, such as CFUW, can play in the developing the "confluence of influence" required to affect government policy and actions related to peace-building. It will take concentrated, coordinated and coherent movement between various governments and agencies to continue moving Resolution 1325 forward so that its content becomes a reality. Maggie emphasized the need for research to develop statistics documenting the need for government involvement in and resources for peace-building activities with an emphasis on the equality of results not opportunity.

The first question asked for a brief summary of UN resolution 1325. Lois Wilson responded that it emphasizes the importance of the role of women in peace-building and the need for women to be involved in all aspects of peace-building.

The second question asked how CFUW can assist DFAIT in changing government policy towards North Korea from the policy of pressure to dialogue and negotiation. Maggie Paterson responded by emphasizing the need for sound research and data to inform and push practice.
The third question asked for information on the Women to Women, Afghanistan Project. Lois Wilson indicated that she could provide the questioner with a web address and stated the need for such projects involving Canadian women and women in Iraq and Korea.

The next question asked for information on results of Canadian assistance for peacebuilding. Suehaile Elkateb responded that Canadian assistance was providing different levels of results in different places; in some projects women are more involved than in others where they had no access. She also mentioned the existence of a group of ‘professional peace negotiators’, all men and the need for women to be included in this group.
The next question asked how CIDA controls graft in overseas projects. Maggie Paterson stated that it is a fact of life; however, there are procedures and regulations in place and local CIDA personnel make every effort to be informed and aware of what is happening.

The next question asked what guidelines the World Bank put on peace-building programs it funds. Suehaile Elkateb responded that the World Bank manages a trust fund - the countries run the projects; donor countries pressure the recipient countries concerning gender involvement. Maggie Paterson added that recipient countries must develop a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; World Bank funding is dependent on such a Strategy being in place; these Strategies are gender blind and this is a concern.

The next question asked how women can gain recognition in societies whose cultures have traditionally excluded them. Lois Wilson indicated that cultural turnover takes time; however, bringing women to Canada to expose them to our society can change perspectives. She indicated that a key is communication/dialogue/interchange and non-isolation. Maggie Paterson indicated that a strength of gender analysis is the information it can provide on local context and on strategies that might work locally. CIDA has found that local women's groups bring a local perspective and networks to peace-building and development projects. She also emphasized the need for a strong external lobby to hold governments accountable to international conventions.

The final question asked what is expected from groups like CFUW. Suehaile Elkateb gave the opinion that Canadians must promote universal human rights. Lois Wilson suggested that individuals go around government to develop partnerships with people in Canada with ties to the countries in conflict. Linda Souter suggested that CFUW members access the resources and networks available through IFUW to make a difference.