Community

U.S. State Department, community, to discuss implementation of U.N. Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security

For Immediate Release

Contact: Laura Dewey, WILPF coordinator

(313) 882-1596, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, U.S. Section to Host a Consultation with the U.S. State Department on the U.S. Implementation of UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

DETROIT, Sept. 19, 2011-- On September 24, the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-Detroit Branch (WILPF), in partnership with Marygrove College Center for Social Justice and Community Engagement and Wayne State University Center for Peace & Conflict Studies, will be joined by a representative of the U.S. State Department and members of the community to discuss the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security at Marygrove College, Alumnae Hall.

This historic event, one of several being held around the country, is responsive to a mandate established by the UN to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) for the resolution’s implementation. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised to develop a NAP on the tenth anniversary of the Resolution, to be completed in October, 2011. Local WILPF members have invited local women to discuss what security means to them and what role they would like women to play as peacekeepers in local and international settings.

Notes Laura Dewey, the WILPF Detroit branch coordinator, “We want to be sure that the U.S. 1325 NAP doesn't become just a means to make war safe for women. WILPF strongly believes in preserving the original spirit of 1325: to advance the status of women and prevent future wars.”

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1325 unanimously in October 2000 in recognition of the importance of including women in matters of peace and security. Its basic premise is that a just and lasting world peace cannot be achieved without the full and equal participation of women, especially since women are affected disproportionately by armed conflict, rape and domestic violence.  Broadly applied, Resolution 1325 extends to all stages of peace building, peacemaking, peacekeeping, and conflict prevention.

The State Department representative will brief the audience on the progress of the National Action Plan, with the opportunity for Q&A. A US WILPF representative will discuss WILPF’s perspective, which will include the impact of war and militarization on women here at home. Dr. Carolyn Roberts, Director of Marygrove's Women's Leadership Institute, will discuss the role higher education plays in providing educational opportunities as a way to help women find their voice and become change agents in their communities and beyond. Additional topics will include women as peace makers, women in government, domestic violence, women and economic disparity, environmental justice, and health care.

WILPF, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2015, has strongly lobbied to demand civil society input into the formulation of the NAP. For more information on the resolution and these consults, please go to http://www.wilpf.org/

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Founded by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) in 1905, Marygrove College is an independent liberal arts college and a Catholic institution of higher learning committed to developing leaders for the new global society. The main campus is situated on 53 wooded acres in northwest Detroit.

8425 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit, MI 48221

www.marygrove.edu