Consciousness-Raising and Prevention in the Struggle against Violence and War

 

Final conference of the project "The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation", Brussels, Committee of the Regions, 24-25 November 2011

 

Time: 24-25 November 2011

Venue: Committee of the Regions, Rue Belliard 99-101, Brussels

Languages: Englisch, French, German

Organisation: RLS Brussels

Contact: Marlis Gensler, Tel. +32 (0)2738 7663, Email

 

The conference aims at the recognition of the specific experience of women in conflict-prevention, civil resistance and reconciliation-processes as a main tool for the development of general concepts and strategies, at discussing the development of a Conflict Watch Network and the question which projects the EU must initiate in order to establish a civil policy structure of prevention.

Invited speakers are policy makers, members of NGOs, research centres, and women peace activists from Africa, Middle East and Europe. Conference languages are English, French and German.

 

Programme and Poster:

 

Conference Programme Download PDF-file

Poster Download PDF-file

 

 

The Brussels office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation has carried out a two-year investigation project in which peace activists from Rwanda, Somalia, ex-Yugoslavia and the Middle East have reflected upon their experiences with the development of conflict, civil resistance and processes of reconstruction of peace. The results of these projects are to be presented to the knowledgeable public as the cornerstone for a concept of consciousness-raising and prevention in the struggle against violence and war on 24/25 November 2011 in Brussels. In the concluding debate, four essential questions are to be addressed:

 

1. How can the specific experience of women in conflict-prevention, civil resistance and reconciliation-processes be recognized as the main tool for the development of general concepts and strategies?

 

2. How can we reach a way to solve ethnic, religious and economic conflicts through compromises?

 

3. Shouldn’t it be necessary to develop, in addition to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, a Conflict Watch Network to inform the international community and the public about changes in the prevailing narrative in the direction of violence.

 

4. Which projects must the EU initiate in order to build a civil policy structure of prevention?

 

Conference Programme:

 

Thursday, 24 November 2011, 10.00 - 18.00

 

Panel 1: Introduction 

 

Chair & Welcome: Ms. Birgit Daiber, Head of Office, RLS Brussels

Ms. Galia Golan, University Professor, Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center’s Lauder School of Government, Israel

Ms. Angela Liberatore, European Commission, DG Research

 

Panel 2: Women's Contribution to Peace and Reconciliation - Conclusions of RLS-Working Group

 

Chair: Mr. Norbert Schepers, Advisory board member of Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Chairman of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Bremen.

Ms. Birgit Daiber, RLS Brussels: «Introduction»

Ms. Yolande Mukagasana, Nyamirambo Point d’Appui, Kigali, Rwanda: «Rwanda»

Ms. Bosiljka Schedlich, Foundation Überbrücken, and Südosteuropa Kultur e.V., Berlin, Germany: «Ex-Yugoslavia»

Ms. Shukria Dini, Independent Researcher, Consultant and Founder and Director of Somali Women’s Studies Centre (SWSC), Nairobi: «Somalia»

Ms. Lama Hourani, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Ramallah, Palestine: «Palestine»

Ms. Ghada Al-Jadba, UNRWA Gaza: «Gaza»

Ms. Molly Malekar, Director of Counseling Center for Women, Jerusalem, Israel: «Israel»

Panel 3: Civil Resistance and Protection during Violent Conflicts

 

Chair: Ms. Shukria Dini, Independent Researcher, Consultant and Founder and Director of Somali Women’s Studies Centre (SWSC), Nairobi/Kenya

Ms. Ruchama Marton, Founder of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Alternative Noble Peace Price

Ms. Sybille Fezer, Senior Program Manager Liberia and Strategy International Programmes, medica mondiale

Panel 4: Peace and Reconciliation

 

Chair: Molly Malekar, Director of Counseling Center for Women, Jerusalem, Israel

Ms. Diana Francis, Chair of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support (CCTS), Great Britain: «Gender, needs and power»

Ms. Betty Bigombe, State Minister for Water Resources in the Uganda Cabinet, Uganda's Woman of the Year 1993 for her efforts to end the violence

Ms. Naomi Chazan, New Israel Fund (NIF), Israel

 

Friday, 25 November 2011, 9.00 - 16.00

 

Panel 5: Characteristics of Contemporary International Wars and Militarization of Policies

 

Chair: Ms. Johanna Bussemer, Foreign Policy Advisor, Group THE LEFT/DIE LINKE, German Federal Parliament

Mr. Erhard Crome, Peace and Security Policy and European Policy, Institute for Policy Analysis, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Berlin

Mr. Bernard Schmid, Journalist and Essayist, Legal Advisor of Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peuples (MRAP), Paris

Ms. Selmin Çalıșkan, European Women’s Lobby (EWL), Brussels: «The civil-military approach in Afghanistan: where is the peace, security and justice for women and civil society?»

Panel 6: Conflict Prevention/Conflict Mediation

 

Chair: Molly Malekar, Director of Counseling Center for Women, Jerusalem, Israel

Ms. Osnat Lubrani, UN Development Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Kosovo

Mr. Helmut Scholz, MEP GUE/NGL (Die Linke): «A critical perspective on EU Foreign and Security Policy and the new developments in International Law, in particular the role of ICC and the UN-based Responsibility-to-Protect-Clause»

Ms. Antonia Potter Prentice, Senior Associate to European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO)

Panel 7: International Cooperation of Women against Violence and War

 

Chair: Marlis Gensler, Researcher, RLS Brussels

Ms. Karin Ulmer, Gender and Trade, APRODEV

Ms. Karen Fogg, former EU Ambassador and IDEA Secretary-General, Associate Fellow of Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies

Ms. Aicha Belarbi, Professor Rabat University, former development minister and former Ambassador of Morocco to the EU

Ms. Simone Susskind, President of Actions in the Mediterranean (AIM), and International Women’s Commission (IWC)

Panel 8: Common Proposals for Sensibilisation and Prevention

 

Chair: Galia Golan, University Professor, Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center’s Lauder School of Government, Israel

Ms. Birgit Daiber, Head of Office, RLS Brussels

Ms. Naomi Chazan, New Israel Fund (NIF), Israel

Ms. Diana Francis, Chair of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support (CCTS), Great Britain

Ms. Luisa Morgantini, former vice-president of the European Parliament and Chairperson of the Delegation for Relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, peace activist, Italy

 

See also:

 

Project report

Project dokumentation (book publication)

 

In cooperation with:

 

Further information:

>> Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I): Alternative and subversive ways in the struggle against violence and war