Posted 11:32 PM
by Mary
Recognising the female peacemakers: The Nobel cause
It has been around since 1901, but only 12 women have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Now a campaign aims to award it to 1,000 of them. Kate Finnigan reports
Published: 30 June 2005
Bono, John Paul II, Colin Powell. These are some of the individuals named as nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. But yesterday, a bid for a nomination of a much less macho and individual nature was announced.
A Thousand Women for the Nobel Peace Prize is the brainchild of Gaby Vermot-Mangold, the anthropologist and member of the Swiss parliament, who says she was inspired to launch the campaign while working with refugees at camps in Africa.
"I have nothing against handshakes and road-maps and meetings at Camp David," she says on the phone from Switzerland. "But the problem is that the peacemaking possibilities that come from such things are centred in politics. What we are campaigning for with this nomination is a recognition of peacemaking outside politics."
Since the Nobel Peace Prize (pictured) was established in 1901, only 12 women have won it. Two of them, Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai, have won it in the past two years, compared with 80 men and 20 organisations.
Joan Ruddock, the former women's minister, believes this campaign should begin to set the balance. "In most of the great prizes of the world women are nominated or take part in much smaller numbers," she says. "Men are better at networking and women are much more sensitive to being in the limelight and putting themselves forward. It's important and typical that this is a collective nomination."
Because a thousand names cannot officially be nominated, the campaign, which has the patronage of Unesco, has put forward the names of three people whose identities will not be announced unless one of the three wins. "The understanding is that these individuals did not apply as individuals but as representatives of the 1,000 we have nominated," says Ms Vermot-Mangold. "If one of these women wins, they all win." Of the 10 British nominees, the women range from Helen John, 67, the vice-president of CND, to Jo Wilding, 31, who last year took a circus to Iraq.
"This nomination is weird," says Jo Wilding while laughing. Shehas visited Iraq three times, bringing medical aid, equipment and, more recently, the Boomchucka Circus, which toured Baghdad and northern Iraq for three months in 2003. She found herself driving ambulances during the siege in Fallujah last April.
"I've seen so many other women who've worked longer and harder than me. But then it's symbolic, isn't it? It's not about individuals. It's about the unrecognised people out there who are working continually without resources or grey suits or aeroplanes," she says.
Patricia Gaffney, one of the nominees and the chair of the British arm of Pax Christi, a Christian peace and justice organisation, agrees. "This nomination contrasts with so many current political models that focus on the individual. Like G8, for example. The fact that this isn't top-down but coming from grassroots affirms the very nature of the work. There's a tendency to want heroes of peace like there are heroes of war," says Cynthia Cockburn, speaking for the peace organisation Women in Black, which is also on the British shortlist. "But the committee must see what it stands for.
"Yes, it's difficult and messy having a collective of 1,000 women but it's not just an inconvenience. It is saying something very valuable. If Nobel says no now, at a time when women are very visibly working hard for peace, I don't think they'll ever say yes."
But it is perhaps Kate Galloway – a 52-year-old nominee and leader of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian group which has been working, and praying, for peace since 1938 – who most succinctly sums up just why women have so often been overlooked.
"The two women who've won the Nobel in recent years have been operating in situations of considerable challenge," she says.
"I think there's a growing recognition that women work in a different way to men. People like Bono and the Pope have worldwide audiences. We're mostly shouting at 100 people in a hall. But it's still important." With this campaign, it is hoped that the numbers in the hall might just get a little bigger.
Wangari Maathai, winner 2004
Maathai, 65, was the first African woman to win the honour – for promoting ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa. She also stood up against the former oppressive regime in Kenya. She ran for the presidency in 1997 and in 2002 was elected to parliament with 98 per cent of her constituency vote.
Shirin Ebadi, 2003
Her campaigns for democracy and greater rights for women and children have brought Ebadi, above, into conflict with conservative clerics. Ebadi, 58, married with two daughters, is credited with being a driving force behind the reform of family law in Iran by seeking changes in divorce and inheritance. She was the country's first female judge.
Jody Williams, 1997
Williams, left, has co-ordinated the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) since 1991. A week before she and the ICBL jointly received the prize, 122 countries signed the Ottawa Treaty outlawing their production. The treaty was made international law on 1 March 1999, though her own country, the US, has not signed up.
Rigoberta Menchú Tum, 1992
The Guatemalan Indian-rights activist, 46, is a Mayan Indian of the Quiché group. Her father, a leader of a peasant group opposed to the military government, died in a fire while protesting against abuses by the military. Her younger brother was tortured and killed and her mother was arrested shortly afterwards, tortured, raped and then killed.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991
Suu Kyi, 60, has become a symbol of heroic and peaceful resistance. She was two years old when her father, then the de facto prime minister of Burma, was killed. Her National League for Democracy won more than 80 per cent of the parliamentary seats that were contested in 1990, but the junta ignored the result. She has been under house arrest for much of the period from July 1989.
Alva Myrdal, 1982
The Swedish diplomat, government minister and advocate of nuclear disarmament was the co-recipient of the prize with Alfonso García Robles of Mexico. Myrdal, who died in 1986, served as a director of the UN Department of Social Welfare during 1949-50 and became director of the Unesco Department of Social Sciences in 1951.
Mother Teresa, 1979
The internationally renowned and controversial nun, who died in 1997, founded the Missionaries of Charity. When awarded the prize, Mother Teresa, who was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Macedonia, refused the conventional ceremonial banquet and asked for the $6,000 funds to be diverted to the poor in Calcutta.
Mairéad Corrigan and Betty Williams, 1976
Williams, 62, far right, founded the Northern Ireland Peace Movement (later renamed Community of Peace People) with Corrigan, 61, in August 1976 after the two women witnessed a car being chased by the security forces veer off the road and kill the three young children of Corrigan's sister. Their organisation brought thousands of Catholics and Protestants out on to the streets together to demand an end to violence. In March 2003 Corrigan was arrested at a non-violent prayer protest against the war in Iraq outside the White House in Washington.
Emily Greene Balch, 1946
Balch, left, was an American sociologist, political scientist, economist and pacifist who led the women's movement for peace during and after the First World War. She died in 1961.
Jane Addams, 1931
Addams, right, was the first American woman to receive the prize. She is remembered primarily as a founder of the Settlement House Movement. She died in Illinois in 1935.
Baroness Bertha von Suttner, 1905
She was not only the prize's first female recipient but is credited with influencing Alfred Nobel to establish it. Her reputation was so highly acclaimed that in a tour of the US she was received by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Profiles by Louise Cotton
Bono, John Paul II, Colin Powell. These are some of the individuals named as nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. But yesterday, a bid for a nomination of a much less macho and individual nature was announced.
A Thousand Women for the Nobel Peace Prize is the brainchild of Gaby Vermot-Mangold, the anthropologist and member of the Swiss parliament, who says she was inspired to launch the campaign while working with refugees at camps in Africa.
Posted 10:16 PM
by Mary
UNITED NATIONS
23/06/2005 Press Release GA/10359
Fifty-Ninth General Assembly
Plenary
105th Meeting (AM & PM)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY BEGINS TWO-DAY DIALOGUE WITH CIVIL SOCIETY,
WITH FOCUS ON UN REFORM PROPOSALS, 2005 WORLD SUMMMIT
Opening First-Ever Meeting, Deputy Secretary-General Says World
Can Tackle Threats Collectively, or Risk Increased Disorder, Inequality
Given the range of security threats and challenges -- from the proliferation of mass destruction weapons to the spread of poverty and infectious disease -- the world could either come together and tackle them collectively or risk increased tension, disorder and inequality, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said today, at the opening of a two-day General Assembly dialogue with non-governmental and civil society organizations and the private sector.
At the launch of the first-ever such meeting, centred on the Secretary-General�s reform proposals, Ms. Fréchette said the hearings were a significant new step in the way the United Nations related to civil society. Most major United Nations meetings were occasions for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations and the private sector to participate in parallel events, such as round tables and workshops. The hearings now took that interaction a step forward, as the international community was entering the most crucial phase of the 2005 process, in which governments had to decide the way forward.
A cross-section of some 200 civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, and some 1,000 more observers, began presenting their views today for consideration by Member States as part of the preparations for the 2005 World Summit, scheduled for 14 to 16 September at Headquarters. The interactive hearings were focused on the clusters of the Secretary-Generalâ•?s report, â•?In Larger Freedomâ•?, as follows: freedom from want; freedom from fear; freedom to live in dignity; and strengthening the United Nations.
Calling today a historic moment, the President of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO), Renate Bloem, said it built on a long history of growing interaction between governments and civil society. The United Nationsâ•? founders, themselves, had granted to NGOs through the Charterâ•?s Article 71 a consultative relationship with the Economic and Social Council. The extraordinary cycle of United Nations world conferences held before, and especially throughout the 1990s, and the process of democratization had led to a remarkable growth in the number of non-governmental organizations and civil society movements and the scope and diversity of their activities.
For the first time since the founding of the United Nations, the General Assembly was holding hearings with civil society and the private sector, she said. The hearings represented a significant step forward for the Organization itself and for all in civil society, which was a constant supporter of the principles of the United Nations and of multilateralism. The moment had been long awaited by NGOs, which had worked intensively for 57 years to enhance its participation at the United Nations. It was vital that Member States listened to the voices of the people, and he was grateful to the Assembly President for making the event happen.
Having set up a civil society task force to assist in preparing for todayâ•?s hearings, General Assembly President Jean Ping (Gabon) said he had appreciated the sense of responsibility they had displayed in the task force, and he earnestly hoped that the hearings would provide the framework for a fruitful dialogue. The groups represented here played a key role in terms of taking actions to counter the current global threats and challenges. In many respects, the activities of the participants complemented those of States. Indeed, they were Statesâ•? real partners and true participants in our collective societies. He looked forward to the hearingsâ•? contributions to mapping out our common future.
Todayâ•?s informal interactive sessions were on: Freedom to live in dignity; Freedom from want â•„- on Millennium Development Goals 1 to 7; and Freedom from want â•„- on Millennium Development Goal 8; and on issues of financing for development. Goals 1 to 7 deal, respectively, with: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; and ensuring environmental sustainability. Millennium Development Goal 8 concerns developing a global partnership for development.
The morning interactive session focused on issues of promoting human rights and implementation of measures to ensure respect for human rights. One afternoon session emphasized the participation in society and promoting the economic benefits of globalization. The second afternoon session was on Millennium Development Goal 8, around which many speakers said achievement of all the other Goals depended. The focus was on the need to open the way for developing countries to 'trade themselves out of poverty'?.
Posted 10:14 PM
by Mary
Historic Hearings at the United Nations - Civil Society's Foot in the Door
New York, NY, (June 20, 2005). Historic hearings will take place between world leaders and civil society Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City on June
23 - 24, 2005. The General Assembly meetings, exclusively the domain of world governments, is for the first time including NGOs in such hearings.
At the heart of the UNGA Hearings, will be the push for UN reform by civil society NGOs, and urging the strengthening of the United Nations and holding world governments accountable for their commitment, to work toward a more peaceful, prosperous and just world, made at the previous Millennium Summit of 2000.
World leaders agreed, at the Millennium Summit of 2000, to meet a number of “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs), which included decreasing by one half, the number of people living in poverty and hunger by 2015, ensuring primary schooling for all children, and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases. Since 2000, however, many governments have not acted on their promises, and the gap between rich and poor continues to widen.
The effectiveness and reform of the UN has recently been in the spotlight. "Strengthening the authority of the UN is essential for future world peace", said Joseph Annunziata, PhD, UN representative for Pax Christi International, a Catholic peace movement, focusing on issues of peace, security, and human rights with 80 member organizations in over 40 countries.
Finding global solutions to world problems has become a challenge for all generations. "Young people's participation in efforts to achieve the MDGs is critical as they are half the world's population and their future is at stake”, according to Benjamin Quinto, age 27, founder and executive director of Global Youth Action Network, which focuses on social change and includes participation of several million young people in nearly 200 countries. “They are the most able population to mobilize in such numbers so as to make them achievable.”
"The key to a more peaceful and prosperous world will require active participation by the public as stakeholders in the future. With the explosion of information and communication technologies, there will be unprecedented opportunities for community voices to be heard,” explained Dr. Elizabeth Carll, a psychologist and media specialist, who is the UN representative for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, a multidisciplinary, scientific NGO focusing on trauma research and intervention.
For more information - interviews with NGO representatives, contact Dr. Elizabeth Carll, Chair, Media Committee, Millennium Plus 5 NGO Network, at 631-754-2424 or 917- 941-5400.
Posted 8:18 AM
by Mary
IRAQ IN TRANSITION: ON CAPITOL HILL
Democrat seeks probe of reasons for war
Associated Press
Published June 17, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A senior House Democrat urged Congress to launch an official inquiry to determine whether President Bush misled the nation about the reasons for toppling Saddam Hussein, as a small, bipartisan group of congressmen proposed Thursday to mandate that the U.S. begin drawing down its troops in Iraq by October next year.
The developments came as the bill for the war continued to grow, with the House debating a measure that would provide an additional $45 billion for military operations in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. That would come on top of the $350 billion for combat and reconstruction appropriated so far.
Rep. Charles Rangel of New York was among Democratic House members at a forum to air demands that the White House provide more information about what led to the decision to go to war in Iraq.
"Quite frankly, evidence that appears to be building up points to whether or not the president has deliberately misled Congress to make the most important decision a president has to make, going to war," said Rangel, senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and other Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee organized the forum to investigate implications in a British document known as the Downing Street memo. The memo refers to meetings by British officials with senior administration officials and says the White House was determined to fix thin evidence about weapons of mass destruction to fit the predetermined policy of ousting Hussein.
Conyers noted statements by Bush in the run-up to invasion that war would be a last resort. "The veracity of those statements has, to put it mildly, come into question," he said.
