UN Report: April 2007

Men Recognizing Women's Work for Peace

by Sayre Sheldon, WAND representative on the NGO Working Group for Women, Peace and Security

WAND's presence on the NGO Working Group for Women, Peace and Security provides us with a link to the entire international women's peace movement, and in particular the support for Security Council Resolution 1325. At this year's United Nations Status of Women meetings there was a new emphasis on the increasing participation of men in the implementation of 1325.

The Canadian High Commission led a discussion of why countries in conflict have so few ways of including women in both preventing war and rebuilding their societies after war. New ways of cooperating with women's groups were presented.

The NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security is in touch with many of these women's groups around the world who work hard on the ground and then are shut out of their newly formed governments. We bring women from conflict zones to testify before the U.N. Now men are realizing that they are simply continuing old aggressive behaviors that will promote rather than prevent violence. They are turning to women's groups for help in reintegrating soldiers and providing new frameworks for peaceful societies.

There is a new determination to promote images of men and boys as peace makers and contributors to social welfare. It remains a challenging task for us all given the violence within our own society but there is encouragement in the new indications of men's looking to women for help and giving them a part in reshaping societies.