March 2011 Peacemaking in Asia and the Pacific: Women’s participation, perspectives and priorities Women at the Peace Table Asia Pacific The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre) “Mediation for peace” The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD Centre) is an independent mediation organisation dedicated to helping improve the global response to armed conflict. It attempts to achieve this by mediating between warring parties and providing support to the broader mediation community. The HD Centre is driven by humanitarian values and its ultimate goal to reduce the consequences of violent conflict, improve security, and contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflict. It maintains a neutral stance towards the warring parties that it mediates between and, in order to maintain its impartiality it is funded by a variety of governments, private foundations and philanthropists. Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue 114, rue de Lausanne Geneva 1202 Switzerland t + 41 22 908 11 30 f +41 22 908 11 40 e [email protected] w www.hdcentre.org © Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2011 Images (front cover) Women in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh at an event to mark International Women’s Day, 8 March 2011. © Reuters/Ajay Verma Globe showing Asia Pacific region. © iStockphoto Images (back cover) Internally displaced persons inside a refugee tent, Beto Timur, Timor-Leste, 3 July 2008. © UN Photo/Martine Perret Traditional Indian hand-printed cotton fabric with floral design. © iStockphoto March 2011 Peacemaking in Asia and the Pacific: Women’s participation, perspectives and priorities Women at the Peace Table Asia Pacific Copyright Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue 114, rue de Lausanne Geneva 1202 Switzerland t + 41 22 908 11 30 f +41 22 908 11 40 e [email protected] w www.hdcentre.org © Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2011 Reproduction of all or part of this publication may be authorised only with written consent and acknowledgement of the source. Editor: Cate Buchanan ([email protected]) Design and layout: Rick Jones ([email protected]) 2 Women at the Peace Table Asia Pacific Contents List of illustrations .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 1. Introduction Cate Buchanan .................................................................................................................. 8 2. Mindanao Irene Morada Santiago .................................................................................................. 21 3. Sri Lanka Kumudini Samuel .................................................................................................................. 33 4. Indonesia Rohaiza Ahmad Asi, Cate Buchanan, Irine Hiraswari Gayatri, Akiko Horiba, Lidya Christin Sinaga, Septi Satriani and Shienny Angelita ......................................................................................................... 41 5. Timor Leste Rebecca Peters ............................................................................................................... 52 6. Northeast India Rita Manchanda .................................................................................................. 60 7. Solomon Islands Rebecca Peters ................................................................................................. 80 8. Nepal Reecha Upadhyay ........................................................................................................................... 89 9. Suggestions ....................................................................................................................................................... 101 Annex 1 Key international norms ........................................................................................................... 107 Annex 2 Resources for conflict parties and mediators ................................................... 112 Annex 3 Pointers for mediation teams ............................................................................................. 116 Peacemaking in Asia and the Pacific 3 List of illustrations Figure 1 Breakdown by sex of holders of key UN conflict-related positions ......................... 11 Box 1 Background to the conflict Ouseph Tharakan ...................................................................................................................................................... 22 Box 2 Background to the conflict Ouseph Tharakan ...................................................................................................................................................... 34 Box 3 Background to Indonesia’s recent conflicts .................................................................................... 42 Box 4 Background to the conflict ............................................................................................................................... 54 Box 5 Background to the conflicts in northeast India Ouseph Tharakan ...................................................................................................................................................... 62 Box 6 Background to the conflict ............................................................................................................................... 82 Box 7 Background to the conflict Ouseph Tharakan ...................................................................................................................................................... 90 Box 8 A mediator’s perspective Ambassador Günther Baechler ................................................................................................................... 94 4 Women at the Peace Table Asia Pacific Acknowledgements The HD Centre is grateful for the support provided by the Australian Agency for International Development and the Open Society Institute during the ‘Women at the Peace Table – Asia Pacific’ project. Staff from these organisations have been consistently encouraging and pivotal to the success of the project to date. A number of individuals provided assistance, critical review and input. They included Seema Kakran, Karin Landgren, Rita Manchanda, Rama Mani, Ian Martin, Bandana Rana, Kumi Samuel and Irene Santiago. Detailed editorial and drafting assistance was also contributed by Adam Cooper and Antonia Potter. Additional contributions in the form of fact checking, background research, drafting and referencing were also made by Susanne Risser and Reecha Upadhyay. Peacemaking in Asia and the Pacific 5 Foreword It is a pleasure and an honour to be writing the introduction to this valuable HD Centre publication Peacemaking in Asia Pacific: Women’s participation, perspec- tives and priorities. This brief and accessible publication offers those who work in and on peace processes a range of new and useful evidence and pointers not only for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and its sister resolutions, but simply for creating better peace processes. While the issue of women’s involvement in peace process continues to be a real and burning issue for those of us working in Nepal, this is truly a global concern. Showing leadership on achieving equal representation by men and women in influential positions continues to be a global challenge, not least in the organisation I represent – the United Nations (UN). The first woman to head any peacekeeping or political mission for the UN was appointed nearly fifty years after its founding – Margaret Joan Anstee (Special Representative of the Secretary General to Angola 1992-3). Seventeen years after Dame Margaret’s appointment, in early 2009, I became only the eighth woman in the UN to head such a mission. However, to date, the UN has yet to appoint a woman as a dedicated lead mediator in support of any major, comprehensive peace agreement process. The growing body of research showing the influence of women on peace agreements indeed underlines that the benefits are important and all to the good. But linking the engagement of women in peace negotiations to what they have suffered still underscores women’s experience as victims. This publication helps to remind us that women have a right to sit at the negotiating table as actors with a stake in the future of their country and with a stake in international peace and security. Women belong there as decision-makers and as problem-solvers. Women working our way into top national and international political and peacemaking posts is an achievement in itself, and still a very incomplete one that needs much more support. In June 2010, I took part in the global open day in 6 Women at the Peace Table Asia Pacific Kathmandu on Resolution 1325. On that day, I was reminded of the experiences of women during and as a result of the conflict in Nepal, and also of the enormous resources and engagement among Nepali women whether they are members of the Constituent Assembly, active in civil society, or approaching the issues from a more academic point of view. I am convinced this is not a resource unique to Nepal. We need to see more women in the formal and informal processes where decisions on peace and security are made, here and all