Webinar: Women as Peace Partners

On Tuesday, September 11, 2012, WAND proudly presented...

"Women as Peace Partners"

It is well documented that women are uniquely and disproportionately victimized by war and violence. Yet it has also been shown that women are uniquely effective agents for securing lasting and just peace. The Women Peace and Security Act of 2012 was recently introduced to Congress, and is designed to support the implementation of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP). Participants learned more about the essential role of women in securing peace, and what you can do to support the Women Peace and Security Act and implementation of the National Action Plan in this new webinar.

Featuring Tanya Henderson, this program explained how the NAP, and accompanying Executive Order issued by President Obama in December 2011, represent a fundamental change in how the United States will approach its diplomatic, military, and development-based support to women in areas of conflict. With the leadership of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, America joined the ranks of more than 30 countries in developing its National Action Plan to promote the essential role of women when it comes to securing peace. The NAP is the outcome of a process that began more than a decade ago with the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which encouraged the United Nations and all member countries to integrate a "gender perspective" in all aspects of peace and security. The Women Peace and Security Act allows Congress to play a crucial role in supporting the U.S. National Action Plan.

Click here to view a recording of this webinar.

Click here to view the PowerPoint slides from this webinar.

Tanya Henderson, public policy director for Women’s Action’s for New Direction (WAND), is a human rights attorney, specializing in gender, children’s rights and poverty law, with significant experience in program development, nonprofit management, and peace advocacy. She received her JD from Suffolk University Law School and pursued her LL.M (Master’s of Law) in international law from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She has also earned several certificates in mediation and conflict negotiation. Her LL.M thesis, “Does International Gender Law Exist?: A Comparative Study of International Practice and Human Rights Law,” sought to establish a legal basis for gender discrimination, beyond the impermissible distinction based merely on biological sex, within existing international human rights law. Prior to joining WAND, Tanya was the National Director for the U.S. Section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), a legal consultant for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Lebanon on issues of gender based violence and women’s political participation, and worked in Ethiopia as part of a research team in conjunction with the Harvard Medical School, researching and drafting policy related to gender inequality, poverty and mental health law.