Women's equality equals peace
Dina Ezzat watches as the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement tries to make its voice heard
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak is addressing top governmental and non-governmental figures in both Oman and the United Arab Emirates this week about the need to join hands with the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement (SMWIPM).
Mrs Mubarak described SMWIPM as an international organisation interested in issues of war prevention and the preservation of human security; she also stressed the organisation's predominantly regional focus. This, members of SMWIPM say, is the reason why building strong bridges with Arab countries is so important. While some Arab countries are already represented in the group, many of the Arab League's 22 member states, including Oman and the United Arab Emirates, should have a higher profile.
Mrs Mubarak's four-day mini-Gulf tour is only the beginning of an intense regional outreach plan. Another set of visits are on the agenda, while members of the movement stationed in several Arab capitals are also busy lobbying support for SMWIPM in their respective countries and communities.
The group is also planning for a Cairo regional conference, with invitations to that May gathering -- meant to establish a regional plan of action -- already delivered to all the Arab states.
SMWIPM acknowledges that while the movement -- which is only a few months old -- may not necessarily be ready to embark upon direct involvement in advocating peace to the many parties engaged in the region's armed and political conflicts, it clearly needs to start working on promoting the wider concept of peace involving both social and environmental rights. It must also introduce this concept into Arab countries' policymaking processes.
According to members who spoke to Al- Ahram Weekly, SMWIPM is particularly sensitive to being seen as an elitist forum. The regional conference is not meant to be restricted to first ladies and spouses of prime ministers and ministers. On the contrary, group members stress their sincere desire to establish a wide network of people in touch with grassroots organisations that could best speak for women when it comes to issues of peace and development.
Representative of active non- governmental organisations will be included on the invite list, and participating countries are being asked to send younger activists along with the more experienced ones. "We have to involve NGOs," Mrs Mubarak said, in order "to promote the idea of peace [with all its nuances] at the grassroots level."
Mrs Mubarak said parliamentarians are also being enlisted. Speaking to the second of a set of four workshops being held by SMWIPM, she said, "women's voices have to be clearly heard in the context of policymaking."
The movement's guidelines are inspired by a set of UN documents, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which encourages the increasing participation of women at decisionmaking levels, especially when it comes to conflict resolution and peace processes. The resolution also urges the UN and all concerned bodies to increase their financial, technical and logistical support for gender-sensitive training issues.
Mrs Mubarak said SMWIPM would be exploring every avenue in its attempt to implement these guidelines. "The first steps towards [successfully] promoting the role of women in peace building is to start an awareness programme," she said, "[and] fresh new ideas are required."
Resolution 1325 was the main item on the Thursday workshop's agenda. Haifa Abu Ghazala, the regional director of the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), offered a detailed analysis on how to make this resolution a fact of life for women and their communities. "International bodies, regional organisations and local institutions will have to focus on educating and informing, generating awareness and strategies, working on impact policy, and new ways to share information," Abu Ghazala said.
While SMIWMP is already looking at new ideas to include in its action plan, similar efforts meant to help women secure peace for their families and communities can also be found in the workshops and publications of many of Egypt's most active women's rights groups, even those that are considered controversial.
The New Woman Centre (NWC), for instance, recently argued for the need to spread gender sensitivity, as well as combat the concept of violence against women, via the national cultural discourse. A 200-page book recently published by the group argues for the need to adopt a new and gender sensitive discourse on women in media, educational curricula, and literature. Only by revising society's norms can anti- women sentiments be overcome, the book says.
It is interesting to note that both the grassroots NWC and the high-profile SMWIPM agree that abolishing discrimination against women is absolutely essential to the idea of fighting many of the causes of violence, deprivation and war.
