On Thursday October 27, 2011 from 3:30-6:00 PM GPPAC will organize a Roundtable on 'Taking Women Beyond 1325' on the 10th Floor of the Church Center - 777 United Nations Plaza #3E, New York. The Roundtable aims to present concrete conclusions from the discussions of the week and present specific recommendations on how the UN can move beyond 1325 and promote the role of women in conflict prevention.

Speakers will be;

- Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Former Under-Secretary General and High Representative of the UN - for a short biography of the Ambassador, please click here,

- Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Executive Director of FemLINKPacific and ISG Gender Liaison of GPPAC,

- Carmen Lauzon-Gatmaytan, Programme Manager of Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) based in Mindanao, the Philippines and GPPAC Southeast Asia Gender Focal Point,

- Maja Vitas, Communications and PR Coordinator at Nansen Dialogue Centre (NDC) Serbia and GPPAC Media Focal Point in Western Balkans,

- Visaka Dharmadasa, Founder and Chair of the Association of War Affected Women and Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action based in Sri Lanka and GPPAC South Asia Gender Focal Point,

- Gesa Bent, Gender Coordinator at the Global Secretariat of GPPAC.   

For more information on the Roundtable, click here or contact Marte Hellema at m.hellema@conflict-prevention.net.

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Women can, should and do play a crucial role in reducing violent conflicts around the world. However, the coverage on women in the media often reinforces the image of women as the victims of war. Not negating there are women all over the world suffering the consequences of conflict and violence, focussing on their victimhood takes away the possibilities for empowerment and the ability to play a proactive role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. 

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to three women, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman, as a recognition for their 'non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work', is an encouraging in the struggle for the recognition of women's role in armed conflict and violence. More so, the further explanation of the Nobel Committee that 'We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women achieve the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society', underscores what many women peaceactivists have long been saying.  

To further contribute to this necessary change and in the lead up to the 11^th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 in October 2011, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is organizing several activities in the week of the 24^th October 2011. All activities will focus on the need and possibilities for media engagement to promote the role of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, in particular through the implementation of UNSCR 1325. 

In this community you will find profiles for the participants to these events, blogs around the topic and background documents. For a more detailed description of the weeks events, click here.

Participating in the different events will be: