Stronger Together Women Parliamentarians in Joint Action for Peace and Security Stronger Together
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Stronger Together Women Parliamentarians in Joint Action for Peace and Security Stronger Together Women Parliamentarians in Joint Action for Peace and Security March 2014 Report prepared by Agnes Venema Copyright © 2014 EastWest Institute Illustration by Dan Page _ The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the position of the EastWest Institute, its Board of Directors or staff. _ The EastWest Institute seeks to make the world a safer place by addressing the seemingly intractable problems that threaten regional and global stability. Founded in 1980, EWI is an international, non-partisan organization with offices in New York, Brussels, Moscow and Washington. EWI’s track record has made it a global go-to place for building trust, influencing policies and delivering solutions. Founded in 2008 by the EastWest Institute and several of the world’s renowned peacemakers, the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention mobilizes members in parliaments across the globe to find pioneering ways to prevent and end conflicts. Learn more at www.pncp.net _ The EastWest Institute 11 East 26th Street, 20th Floor New York, NY 10010 U.S.A. +1-212-824-4100 _ [email protected] www.ewi.info ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Partners: Women’s Action for New Direction (WAND) Parties with whom we cooperated: Ministry of Family and Social Policy – Turkey Grand National Assembly – Turkey HÜRSİAD – Ankara, Turkey Ankara municipality – Turkey Georgetown University – Washington D.C., USA North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – Brussels, Belgium Soka Gakkai International – Washington D.C., USA Sanam Naraghi Anderlini at MIT Center for International Studies – Cambridge, MA, USA Beth Grupp at Beth Grupp Associates – Washington D.C., USA Jamila Raqib at Albert Einstein Institution – Boston, MA, USA Zuhal Kurt – Turkey STRONGER TOGETHER Allen Collinsworth – Turkey U.S. Congress H.E. Gary Doer, Ambassador of Canada to the USA Donors: Rockefeller Brothers Fund Kathryn Davis Fund 5 STRONGER TOGETHER 6 Introduction “What you are doing in collab- oration is truly remarkable. A network like this is so impor- tant, to let your he United Nations Security Council sisters around passed resolution 1325 on Women, the world know Peace and Security (WPS) in 2000, which is considered to be the back- that they are Tbone of efforts to include women in peace not alone in negotiations, post-conflict reconstruction and disarmament, demobilization and re- their struggle. integration initiatives around the world. But that they Ten years after this landmark resolution was passed, the EastWest Institute’s Parlia- are the agents mentarians Network for Conflict Prevention for change.” started its work on the Women, Peace and Security agenda upon the request of wom- en members of parliament from Afghani- Ambassador stan and Pakistan, who felt marginalized, Melanne Verveer sidelined and excluded from their national Executive Director, security processes as well as from interna- Georgetown tional dialogues on this issue. Institute for Having primarily focused on the tense rela- Women, Peace & tionship between Afghanistan and Pakistan Security and on the resulting security implications, particularly in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATAs), the Network brought together women MPs from both countries to discuss the obstacles to peace. The de- STRONGER TOGETHER termination of these women MPs to claim their places at the table of power has re- sulted in an unprecedented commitment to a standing dialogue between their respec- tive countries. Two historic meetings have taken place under the Network’s auspices: we convened the first-ever delegation of Af- ghan women parliamentarians in Islamabad in 2011, and in April 2012 we arranged for the first ever official delegation of Pakistani women parliamentarians to visit Kabul. The 7 Network’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the role of female parliamentarians and build their capacity to adequately deal with the challenges of their countries has also resulted in a study visit to Brussels in Octo- ber 2012 for Afghan parliamentarians. Two years of hard work bore fruit: two-thirds of the delegation consisted of women. Participants Polling Did you run for office on a specific political issue? 7% Defense and 47% 40% Foreign Policy Economy &Jobs Human Rights 36% 86% 100% are not supported have received threatening didn’t consider leaving politics, by their family in letters, phone calls and despite these threats pursuing a political death threats career Which skills would you like to develop to better interact with your voters and colleagues? 20% 40% 70% 25% Public speaking Traditional New & social Organization and and debating media relations media project management With elections on the horizon for both Paki- Senate, Congress and in state and local stan (2013) and Afghanistan (2014), the legislative bodies across the United States. Network searched for ways of continuing These are women leaders who can serve as to support the Women, Peace and Secu- role models and mentors for women MPs rity agenda, particularly in Afghanistan and in countries where they are still considered Pakistan. Drawing lessons from other areas secondary citizens. In turn, face-to-face of our work, we believe that sharing experi- meetings facilitate the exchange of genuine ences and forging mentoring relationships information on the situation on the ground are the keys to success. This led us to part- in countries such as Afghanistan and Paki- ner with Women’s Action for New Direc- stan, and also about practices in the host tions (WAND), a U.S.-based organization country of the meeting. Furthermore, to STRONGER TOGETHER with a mission of “educat[ing] the public fully capitalize on the opportunity to bring and opinion leaders about the need to re- this extraordinary group of women lead- 8 duce violence and militarism, and redirect ers together, we invited women MPs from excessive military spending to unmet hu- countries in transition and post-conflict so- man and environmental needs.” cieties in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) so that they, too, could benefit. WAND has been working to increase wom- en’s political leadership to further these The potential for synergy between the Par- goals and has forged longstanding relation- liamentarians Network for Conflict Preven- ships with women trailblazers in the U.S. tion and Women’s Action for New Direc- Do you know enough about the UN SC Res 1325 to use it in your work? before 20% after 80% I most confidently represent my constituency on issues concerning: Infrastructure Economy and jobs Women’s and human rights Family and social policy 95% Good governance and rule of law Physical safety and protection National defense and foreign policy Ecology/the environment 40% Which of these issues would you like to 32% develop a better Community organizing and volunteeriing 75% 65% understanding of? tions led the two organizations to form a • Facilitate sustained means of com- “Partnership to Strengthen Women’s Politi- munication for the exchange of infor- STRONGER TOGETHER cal Empowerment and to Advance the Role mation on parliamentary initiatives, of Women in Peace, Security, and Human calls for action and other activities Rights.” The 2013 partnership had the ob- which can enhance the outreach of jective to: women in the wider MENA region. • Strengthen the role of women law- The partnership—the first of its kind be- makers in all political processes, be- tween the two organizations—foresaw a yond strictly gender-related issues range of activities, but most notably two in the wider MENA region, with a par- meetings that would facilitate the forging of ticular focus on Afghan and Pakistani personal ties between the women lawmak- women parliamentarians; ers. To keep the activities balanced, one 9 • Enhance regional cooperation as well of the exchanges would take place in the as cooperation with female legisla- MENA region and the other in Washington tors in the U.S.; D.C. This report details the most significant • Build a strong regional and interna- steps that have been made in shaping the tional network of support for women partnership and recalls the achievements decision makers, with a specific focus of this group of extraordinary politicians. on supporting women in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Participants Marianne Malak Constituent Assembly Egypt) State Representative Marianne Malak, a Coptic-Christian, Angela Williams was elected to the Egyptian Colorado (USA) Firdaous Oueslati, Parliament in 2012 as the youngest State Representative Angela Williams Tunisian Constituent Assembly (Tunisia) Member of Parliament in Egyptian serves as chair of the Audit Committee Faridaous Oueslati was born in Amsterdam and studied in history. With a degree in law, a master and the Business, Labor, Economic, and Leiden, The Netherlands, but her home country is Tunisia. in human rights, and a PhD in interna- Workforce Development Committee, After the revolution in Tunisia, she decided to run for a tional law, Marianne was a member and is a member of the House Services seat in the Tunisian Constituent Assembly. Oueslati has of the Constituent Assembly, which Committee and State Veterans & Mili- been elected representing the district ‘The Americas and drew up a new constitution for Egypt. tary Affairs Committee. She is also the Europe.’ These regions are considered separate districts She was one of the first women to owner of the Angela Williams Agency, because of the large number of Tunisian citizens living on sit on the platform of the Egyptian Inc. Williams is an active community their territory. Since her election Oueslati has been work- parliament, and is a member of the leader. She is a recent graduate of the ing in the Tunisian Constituent Assembly on drafting a new Inter-Parliamentary Union. Currently, Harvard Kennedy School Sr. Executives constitution. Her priorities were to ensure that the consti- she serves on Egypt’s National Coun- Program. As co-founder of Chamber tution provides everyone with their fundamental freedoms cil for Human Rights (NCHR) and Connect, the Colorado Black Chamber and that the government is subject to checks and bal- the Committee of Constitution and of Commerce leadership development ances.