On May 31st, 2022, ALLMEP hosted its 2022 regional conference “Unite the Field,” which included a series of panels involving ALLMEP’s member organizations and their relative areas of focus. The Women, Peace, and Security panel featured seven women peacebuilders, each with varying expertise in the topic women, peace, and security.
Libby Lenkinski, VP of Public Engagement at the New Israel Fund, spoke on the importance of taking different approaches to including women in the peacebuilding space. “I think there is a lot of collaboration that can be done across these sectors to open up this space and make it a more feminist space…broadening our definitions of things like security to really include what it will take for people in communities to thrive beyond just surviving…,” said Lenkinski.
Much of the panel discussion revolved around UN Security Council Resolution 1325. According to the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, the landmark resolution “…reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. Resolution 1325 urges all actors to increase the participation of women and incorporate gender perspectives in all United Nations peace and security efforts.”
Fakhira Halloun, former UN Civil Society Coordinator, emphasized the impact the resolution could have by saying, “But imagine Palestinian women and Israeli women united voices together around 1325 and say that we are against the occupation and we want to go for conflict resolution. It will have weight in the international community and it can mobilize the international community to take action.”
All panelists described the importance of going beyond metaphorically including women and actually bringing women to the negotiating table.“And this is the idea. Not to focus only on participation, and not to talk about peace in a general way but to bring the substance, but to bring what does it mean for us as women to get to the table, what we will bring to the table,” said Netta Levy, attorney at Itach Maaki- Women Lawyers for Social Justice.
Host Huda Abuarquob concluded the panel by asking all of the women in the audience to stand up for an applause. “You deserve a huge recognition from all of us for being here, for leading movements, for raising children, for bringing hope, for getting over the narrow-minded ideas and leading the way,” said Abuaquob.
For more information on UN Security Council Resolution 1325, please visit: https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/wps/
Women, Peace, & Security was just one of the many impactful panels that took place during ALLMEP’s “Unite the Field” conference. For more highlights, recorded panels, and information about “Unite the Field,” please visit: https://www.allmep.org/unite-the-field/
