Less than four months now remains to the opening of the historic women’s rights conference Nordic Forum Malmö 2014 – New Action on Women’s Rights. Organized by the women’s movement in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, Nordic Forum will during four days in June (12th -15th) gather 15,000 people to analyze our time’s challenges and formulate new strategies for a more equal society in the Nordic countries, in Europe and internationally. Operation 1325 will attend the conference and we can today also reveal that a cooperation between Nordic civil society actors has been initiated with the mission to organize two exciting program activities at the forum. As a result, we hope to strengthen the Nordic governments and civil society in their work for women, peace and security.
Progress report and the way forward
Adopted in 2000, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was in many ways groundbreaking. The Nordic countries were among the first to develop national action plans for its implementation. But where do we stand today, almost 15 years later? Even though the Nordic governments have taken certain action to implement Resolution 1325, there is today a unified view within civil society that much work still remains. It is therefore high time to revitalize the debate and update the knowledge of Resolution 1325 in a Nordic context. Are the Nordic countries still leading the way when it comes to 1325-work and how do we pave the way for a more effective implementation in the future? With this background, Operation 1325, together with partners in Finland, Norway and Denmark, have thus begun to plan and put together a seminar with these topics on the agenda to be hold at the Nordic Forum. Contact with Iceland has also been taken to make sure all Nordic perspectives are represented in the project.
Unique meeting for the Nordic civil society
Civil society actors around the world were an important driving force in the development of Resolution 1325 and today continue to have a central role as partners to governments and as a watchdog for the national implementation. During Nordic Forum we therefore want to take the opportunity to gather Nordic civil society actors working on women, peace and security to a unique meeting. In a 90 minutes long workshop, we want to discuss how our work can be strengthened and see what we can learn from each other’s knowledge and experiences, for example how monitoring can be used as a tool for advocacy. Perhaps it is also time to revive the Nordic 1325 Network to raise the Nordic civil society’s voice and increase our impact on the politics and implementation of Resolution 1325?
Our arrangements are still under construction so stay tuned for updates and news on our website and in social media. However, note the following dates and times already to make sure you don not miss our activities:
Women, Peace and Security: Are the Nordic countries leading the way? Seminar: Friday, June 13, 12:00-14:00
A United North for UNSCR1325 Women Peace and Security
Workshop: Sunday, June 15, 11:00-13:00
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This Nordic 1325-project and cooperation is possible thanks to funding and support from The Nordic Council of Ministers and NIKK (Nordic Information on Gender).