The scheduled Geneva II peace meeting on the crisis in Syria is approaching. The 22nd of January the UN backed conference will bring together warring Syrian parties to seek a solution to the prolonged civil war. Together with Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), some twenty other women’s rights organizations and individual signatures, Operation 1325 endorses a global petition to support Syrian women’s participation in upcoming peace talks on the Syrian conflict and the future of the country.
In November 2013, Operation 1325 wrote in Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (6/11, in Swedish only); A peace process lays the foundation for a country’s development in terms of political representation, compensation to those affected and other mechanisms necessary for lasting peace. In this process women must be represented in order to ensure that women’s interests and rights are given priority in a future state-building. The message was clear, with no women at the negotiation table, a sustainable and lasting peace cannot be reached. The UN Security Council in year 2000 adopted Resolution 1325 stating the overarching importance of women’s participation in peace-building, peace keeping and international security processes. In the most recent Resolution 2122 (2013) on Women, Peace and Security, this demand was once again reiterated and strengthened.
In the end of last year, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) took initiative to a petition gathering signatures for the purpose of putting pressure on the international community to act on the Security Council resolutions and for the inclusion of Syrian women in the upcoming peace talks. A letter followed by the gathered signatures will be sent to UN leaders and government representatives.
