Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
№4 2014 August-September
& SECURITY THIS IS OUR BUSINESS! QUARTERLY ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
PEACE
young experts from the South Caucasus
All war is a sympton of man’s failure as a thinking animal John Steinbeck
EDITORIAL Dear readers, Welcome to the 4th issue of our e-journal. This time our stories will focus on students’ essay competition and the conference on ‘’Peace, War and Women’s Participation’’. The Conference was organised on 19 October 2014 where 40 students took place and 6 students were selected as the best essay authors. The Conference was preceded by the essay competitions which was announce country wide. The information reached many universities in many regions of Georgia; 12 essays were received covering many interesting and diverse issues starting from Georgian women’s participation in conflicts and ending with female military contribution in “Islamic State’’ conflict. Six essays were selected as the best essays and the students were given opportunity to publish their speeches in the form of articles in our international e-journal. Some articles will be put in this edition and the rest- in the 5th edition. We also had a guest speaker, a young boy who moved from St.Peterburg to Tbilisi to study international affairs. He presented a wonderful speech on the uselessness of wars and conflicts and why it is important to have a pace and stability. We also had a speech sent from Armenia - our Network member. Her speech was read by our colleague on her behalf. These two speeches also are pre-
1 page
sented in our newsletter. The conference got a broad interest and the discussions were very live and energetic – this proved that the topic on war and peace and women’s participation in it is of primary interest of the Youth who is ready to participate in peace analysis as well as conflict prevention, reconciliation and peace-building process. The other extract from my research document for UN-Women: ‘’Strategy for engagement and joint actions on confidence building and P2P diplomacy that involve women’’ will be also presented in the journal. This time it will be on findings and recommendations as it’s very important to see what local organizations think to build peace in their country and entire region and what came out from a deep research and analysis. We as usual welcome the readers’ ideas and comments. You can contact us at: info_yweps@yahoo.com or ninolag@gmail.com. We also have our own blog-post http://youngwomenexperts.blogspot.com/ and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/yweps?ref_ type=bookmark. Please visit them. We welcome your opinions and inputs. Thank you for your consideration and attention. NINO LAGVILAVA, Project Manager
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
ВОЙНА или МИР ? Мы увидим насколько важно вызвать в человеческом разуме радикальную революцию. Кризис – этокризис в сознании который больше не может принимать старые нормы, старые модели, древние традиции. Учитывая каков мир сегодня со всеми бедствиями, конфликтами, разрушительной жестокостью и так далее, человек все такой же жестокий, агрессивный, склонный к насилию, корыстный и амбициозный. И он создал общество в соответствии с этими качествами. Главным побочным эффектом такого общества является война. Что мы представляем, когда слышим это слово? Поскольку каждый человек индивидуален, у каждого из нас своя реакция на это слово, представления могут быть совершенно разнообразными. Возможно для кого-то это победа над историческим или новым политическим врагом, для кого-то это возможность отдать честь и отвагу своей родине. Но как бы “благородны” не были эти ассоциации и представления, есть одна, и единственная вещь которая объединяет все эти понимания – это смерть. Некоторые духовно прогрессировали до уровня отсутствия страха к смерти. Да, такое однозначно имеет место быть, однако, что вы скажете насчет смерти ваших близких? Каково будет знать, что ваше существование зависит от психологического равновесия солдата, держащего в руках оружие, нацеленное на вашу мать, отца или ребенка? Согласитесь, что это равносильно подброшенной монетке, которая определит исход вашей истории. Те страдания, что чувствуют люди, беспомощно наблюдая за этим
2 page
Спартак БЕКВЕРИЯ
жесточайшим и самым бессмысленным действием на планете, неописуемы. Разум человека таит в себе неимоверного масштаба мир, со своими ценностями: любовью, переживаниями, планами, надеждами, эмоциями. И гибель этого мира не сравнима ни с чем. Пока я пишу эту статью, многие спокойно спят в своих постелях и даже никогда не задумывались о том, что такое война? О чем они думают, когда видят в новостях очередной сюжет о войне в какой-либо точке мира? “Ой, опять где-то война, но меня то это точно не коснется. Да и вообще… Мне пора на работу”. Хм… Возможно точно так же думали украинцы год или два тому назад, когда в неизвестном месте звучала ухмылка судьбы. Если посчитать потери, которые человечество понесло в ходе второй мировой войны, то мы получим цифры грандиозного масштаба, будоражащеевоображение и фантазию. Предлагаю ознакомиться с этими данными в виде финансовых и человеческих потерь. Финансы – (Данные приведены в млрд. $). СССР – 610, США – 341, Великобритания – 150, Франция – 100, Германия – 230, Италия – 50, Япония 100. И того – 1500 (млрд.$). Подчеркиваю, тот факт, что информация предоставлена без учёта затрат остальных стран, эта цифра с легкостью перевалила бы за 2000 (млрд.$). Человеческие потери. Погибло – 25 542 785 солдат по всем причинам и 46 733 062 мирных жителей также по всем причинам. Интересно заметить, что потери среди мирных жителей почти в два раза пре-
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
вышают потери среди солдат. В сумме мы получим 77 275 847 человек погибших. За эти средства и ресурсы можно было бы стереть все трущобы с лица земли, обеспечить совершенно каждого человека на планете жильем высокого уровня, построить сотни тысяч больниц, школ, институтов и т. д. по всему миру.
«
После войны он все время думал: какое это счастье – жить. И в сравнении с этим счастьем все казалось ему незначительным.» (С) Эрих Мариа Ремарк
Вопрос: – «А почему тогда войны не останавливаются, а даже наоборот вспыхивают новые?» Каков ответ на это? Оглянитесь вокруг, посмотрите на мир в котором мы живем. Обратите внимание на поведение людей, вслушайтесь в их суждения. Я вижу мир искаженных ценностей. Время, в котором мы живем навязывается бесконечную погоню за материальными ценностями. Это поражает алчность, жестокость, предательство агрессию по отношению к окружающим. Человечество стремительными темпами забывает об основополагающих ценностях во взаимодействии с людьми – порядочность, уважение, взаимопонимание между нами. Возможно мы материально богаты, но духовно и морально мы неописуемо бедны. Общество свято верит в самый доступный и понятный социальный институт, такой как деньги. По данным, изложенным в докладе Программы развития ООН (ПРООН), более 2,2 млрд. людей в мире живут в нищете, около 1,2 млрд. человек живут, получая ежедневно $1,25 или менее. Около 1,5 млрд. человек в 91 стране страдают от “многоаспектной бедности”, – они вынуждены бороться с лишениями в области здравоохранения, образования и “жизненных стандартов”, говорится в докладе. Среди тех, кто страдает от бедности, 842 млн. человек систематически голодают. Эта цифра соответствует 12% мирового населения. Еще 800 млн. человек живут “на грани нищеты”. 80% людей в мире не получают страховки по безработице и не имеют системы пенсионного обеспечения. И все это в мире, где 40% всех богатств принадлежит 1% населения. Ошибочным было бы мнение о том, что жестокие черты характера присущи людям с самого рождения. Нет, это глубочайшее заблуждение. Скажите, что отличает убийцу от праведника? Совершенно ничего, кроме среды обитания, которая породила в них та-
3 page
кое понимание мира. На свободу мышления всегда посигаются обстоятельства, окружающие нас и независимые от нас. Если спросить малыша: -”Кто тебя любит больше всего на свете?”. “Я не знаю”: – ответит малыш. “Конечно же твои мама и папа”. А если точно так же спросить: -”Какая страна самая лучшая и сильная?”. “Я не знаю ответит он. “ Конечно же наша”: – ответят родители. И ребенок до конца жизни будет утверждать, что его страна и его народ самые лучшие. Суждение о том, что есть “мы” и есть “они” преследует нас с самых древнейших времен существования человека. Когда одно племя нападало на другое ради еды, не понимая, что можно и не убивать, ведь всего вокруг достаточно, лишь бы с умом управлять ресурсами. Это происходило в силу недостатка развития. Именно эту ошибочную парадигму пещерного человека мы и несем на своей шее и по сей день. (Парадигма – от греч. παράδειγμα, «пример, модель, образец»).
«
Не хватит никакого здоровья, чтобы приспособиться к этому глубоко больному обществу» (с) Джидду Кришнамурти
Любой причиной для войн являются ресурсы. Однако человечество развито настолько, что запросто может обходиться без нефти и газа. Существуют настолько совершенные альтернативные источники энергии, что мир навсегда может забыть о сырьевых источниках. В США, штат Калифорния на сегодняшний день работает крупнейшая в мире солнечная электростанция. Новая, калифорнийская станция обеспечивает чистым электричеством 140 000 домов. Она вырабатывает 33% от всей энергии в штате. Кто не знает, ВВП штата Калифорнии – 2,2 триллиона долларов, что превышает ВВП большинства стран на планете. Это даже больше чем у таких мощных стран как Россия, Италия, Индия, Канада, Австралия или Испания. Введение в строй одной этой станции эквивалентно удалению из атмосферы 400 000 тонн CO2 ежегодно. А это, как будто с дорог сразу исчезло 77 000 коптящих атмосферу автомобилей. И все это без учёта других альтернативных источников энергии. Однако если учитывать общую мировую тенденцию, то об этом все еще не выгодно говорить. Эта тишина породила новое понятие, такое как “корпоратократия”. Они создают искусственный дефицит товаров и ресурсов, дабы удерживать или увеличивать цены на свою продукцию. Если компания по добыче алмазов найдет большие залежи, то она никогда не обнароду-
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
ет этот факт. Ведь больше количество продукта на рынке без увеличения спроса на него приведет к снижению его цены. Это простейший принцип экономики. Такая политика порождает все новые и новые негативные тенденции. Более того, просто на просто сам процесс войны выгоден компаниям и странам, производящим само оружие для воин. При нынешней системе ценностей эта политика убыточна. Однако нет нужды в этих войнах, ведь ресурсов и земли достаточно для каждого сполна. Так почему же мы должны воевать? Что же разделяет нас сегодня? Страны, национальности, религия, Скажите, о чем молятся в своих молитвах мусульмане, буддисты или христиане? Представители этих религий выглядят совершенно по-разному. Глаза, цвет кожи, качество волос и т. д. Но и те, и другие молятся об одном и том же. О благополучии своих близких, о мире, о радости, о достатке, просят у своих богов справедливости. А чему учат эти божества? Честности, благоразумной, праведной жизни. Мы выглядим по-разному и воспитаны по-разному, однако состоим мы из одной и той же плоти и крови одинакового, красного цвета и суть нашего существования одна и та же. Так скажите мне, чего нам нужно делить? Чтобы двигаться нам нужно совершать ошибки. Например, если кто-то поскальзывается на льду, разумным было бы создать устойчивую обувь на скользких поверхностях. Так же человечество должно уметь признавать и переосмыслять свои просчеты дабы избежать их в будущем. Общество совершает множество проступков каждый день, добывая нефть и газ, загрязняя с их помощью атмосферу, создавая все новые и новые способы уничтожения друг друга вместо того, чтобы сконцентрировать силы на решения общих проблем. Планета, на которой мы живем-это замкнутая система в которой все движется по кругу и касается каждого. Мы обязаны взять на себя ответственность по заботе о мире в котором живем. Система разделения на “мы” и “они”, или индивидуалистический подход не принесут никаких плодов. Это видение ложное и уже многие годы затормаживает человеческое развитие или вовсе ведет его к тупику и саморазрушению для того чтобы изменить это, нам нужно измениться и измениться для начала внутри себя, найти начало этого свершения в своем разуме. Так же, как и каждое изобретение или что-либо материальное, созданное человеком рождается с начала в уме, потом на бумаге, а после воплощается в реальность. Сгореть в пламени третей мировой войны, а после жить в забвении или перестроиться, создав по-настоящему свободное общество и вместе с ним рай в котором нет голода и нищеты. Выбор очевиден. Как же добиться этого? Ответ довольнотакинесложен. В первую очередь, мы обязаны реорганизовать
4 page
окружающую среду путем повышения качества образования. Только с присутствием таких основополагающих и фундаментальных понятий как честность, понимание, сочувствие и добро в преобладающем количестве, перемены подвластны нам Настоящими героями являются инженеры, технические специалисты и ученые. Это они осветили наши дома, это они дали нам возможность передвигаться с большой скоростью и т. д. в единстве мы можем двигаться вперед на гигантской скорости. Уверяю вас, что полеты в космос и освоение новых планет в таком здоровом обществе так же близко как завтрашний день. Мы обязаны забыть о стереотипах и предрассудках. Друзья, я призываю вас понять, что в мире есть многое гораздо важнее чем деньги. И эти вещи по-настоящему делают человека счастливым. Ведь окружающий нас мир ровно такой, каким он исходит от нас. Видеть несправедливость и молчать – это значит самому участвовать в ней. Давайте изменим наше будущее!
«
Мы все едины. Человек – это часть целого, которое мы называем Вселенной, часть, ограниченная во времени и в пространстве. Он ощущает себя, свои мысли и чувства как нечто отдельное от всех окружающих, что является своего рода оптическим обманом его сознания. Эта иллюзия стала темницей, заключающей нас в мире собственных желаний и привязанностей к узкому кругу близких нам людей. Наша задача – освободиться из этой тюрьмы, расширив сферу своего участия до всякого живого существа, до целого мира, во всем его великолепии». (с) Альберт Эйнштейн.
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
Armenian Women Challenges Faced by the Conflict
&
Knarik Mkrtchyan; Coordinator of Peace Building Projects; Women’s Resource Center Armenia NGO
Before the conflict, Armenians and Azerbaijanis lived in mixed populations and both republics housed a large minority of the other ethnic group. Due to rising tensions between the groups in the late 1980s, an exchange of populations began, sanctioned by the Soviet authorities. When the war erupted and violence flared, refugees moved back and forth. Many IDPs and refugees still live in temporary housing and in harsh conditions. Women’s organizations strive to integrate IDP and refugee women in the local community, provide training to give them a better footing on the job market and monitor and represent their rights. For example, in the border villages, opportunities are created for women to develop their skills on handicrafts and small business initiatives to give them the opportunity to be economically independent and able to take care of their families and become decision-makers in the community. They also work to counteract bitterness and vindictiveness, and post-traumatic stress. In this area, many cross-border dialogue meetings are organized where women from both sides meet regularly in a neutral space to develop relationships among them and a safe space to counter their stereotypes of enemy images and intolerance. The impact of the conflict on the economic situation in NK has been devastating, even if the situation has improved during the last years. Due the unique international status NK does not have enough access to many socio-economic opportunities, which is offered by contemporary world. This also affects women. To-
5 page
day the vast majority of international organizations refuse to provide a direct funding to many NGOs working in NK, because it is internationally unrecognized territory. In a society like Nagorno-Karabakh, it is difficult to pursue issues like gender equality laws, family laws (for example law on domestic violence) and etc. This has two explanations: on one hand different entities from both civil society and government believe that women living in NK have more rights and are more active than in many other societies, on the other hand the issue of gender equality is not perceived as an urgent phenomenon for NK. There are many other prioritized topics concerning the conflict itself. Besides, the lack of practical tools (laws, NGOs, special gender programs) creates negative and discouraging atmosphere for those women exposed gender based violence to speak up about their situation. There is an enormous need to address the post-traumatic stress that women lived during the war. After the cease fire, there was a lack of support in addressing this issue and women continued their lives, without dealing with the traumatic past they experienced (loss of loved ones, fear, assault, displacement, etc). Also during the war most of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed, including hospitals and clinics and women were the most affected, since they were not able to have access to adequate health care. Still
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
today, most of the towns and villages lack adequate health facilities and women have to travel a long way to get medical health. Because of the harsh socio-economic situation resulted by the unsettled conflict and closed borders, many women in the region have multiple jobs in order to be able to support their families and their work is mainly concentrated in the non-formal-sector, with low pay and limited benefits (house cleaning, babysitting, farming, service industry, etc). Often these types of works are stable and do not include a work contract. Women employed under these conditions are not officially registered and not eligible for maternity or sick leave, and later on pension benefits. A common view of women in conflict regions is that they should stay at home and there is little or no tolerance for women’s activity. The work to improve women’s rights is mainly focused on provision of safe places for women and to increase women’s awareness of their rights. In this period of signing of cease fire agreement the main negotiation processes were represented by men with no essential influence of women. The process included officials with senior positions in armed forces
and in the government. In the negotiation processes the role of OSCE group must be highlighted, since it is one of the most important international actors in this regard. The OSCE group was created before the ceasefire agreement came into force. The Minsk group is headed by 3 countries, which are represented by men. In these processes women have administrative and advisory role with no essentioal impact on decision making processes. Actually there is no negotiation in process, since Nagorno-Karabakh was negotiated away after the resignation of the first president of RA on 3th of February, 1998. Unfortunately, women’s voices over NK issues are not addressed. NK women do not have enough power to influence on peace building processes and so far they are underrepresented in decision making processes. Closed borders and rare chances to meet with Azerbaijanis create many obstacles toward peaceful resolution of the conflict. However, there are many female true advocates for peace, hopefully in nearest future we will have positive changes and can proudly say that women already have their honorable role in any peace initiatives.
Armenian Women Challenges Faced by the Conflict
&
6 page
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
War, Peace and Women Participation Mariam TSITSKISHVILI World overcame lots of wars and difficulties. There were local, regional, continental and world scale conflicts. Enormous amount of people died in these confrontations. At a glance, situation improved after World War II and it seemed that stability finally dominated, but reality was different. Even today there are many geopolitical hotspots with non-stop military operations. It is hard to imagine world without war. Every day we get information about new conflicts, confrontations, violence. People who are constantly attacked and disturbed with the above-mentioned circumstances, are in the center of world’s attention. During war you can pay attention to many aspects including Gender. What influence do women have in such kind of difficult situations? How high is the level of women participation? In what kind of conditions are women and what do they desire to achieve? There are many books, essays, articles about this topic. The United Nations pays big attention to the aspect of women. The experts are sent to hotspots in order to objectively analyze the situation and conditions. As we know, casualty is an unfortunate result of wars and conflicts and it especially affects women. After losing relatives and loved ones, there is nothing left but hope that everything will get better in the future, that there will be peace and stability. Despite their social status, men and women are affected differently by conflicts. In general, in today’s geopolitical hotspots, women have less political rights, ruling means and living conditions than men. The fact that we see many women in the west (Europe, the USA) who have great impact in their countries politics and not only does not allow us to generalize this situation to other continents and regions. During the last century over 100 million people died as a result of wars, however, death of women and men differ given biological, sociological or psychological reasons. While men die in battlefields women experience physical and sexual harassment, slavery, violence and in many
7 page
cases they end up dead. We can assume that confrontations bring a lot of harm to women. To prove this we can look at the data, according to which 94% of women had experienced torture, rape, sexual slavery in Sierra Leone and between 250,000-500,000 women were raped during the Rwanda genocide. As I already mentioned the factor of women should be taken into consideration when talking about wars and armed conflicts and their role in achieving and maintaining peace and stability should be also highlighted. It is very important to let women participate in negotiating processes. Here are some examples which support this opinion: In South Africa, women played an important role in adopting new constitution which came into force in 1997. This constitution unites numerous rights for women including education, health care and property. After the Apartheid regime, women were left without any rights, now they are significantly represented in parliament. In 2011 there were 44% of women delegates. Another example is Liberia. “Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace” brought together thousands of women from Christian and Islamic world in order to participate in nonviolent demonstrations against war. Their actions were very productive and resulted in free and fair election process and Liberia ended up with the first female president in the African region. As for Ireland, because of the fact that during peace negotiations men dominated over women, women activists and over 200 women organizations got united in order to create new political party, which later was called “Coalition of women of North Ireland”. Coalition included women regardless religion, political views and social status. This increased the participation of women in and maintaining and keeping peace. The examples mentioned above highlight the role of women in conflict prevention and conflict resolution as well as in rehabilitation process in post-conflict situation.
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
Female military contribution into “Islamic state” conflict
Mariam ZIBZIBADZE, Tbilisi state university, International relations
Religion has always been an important political aspect in the world. For instance Islam means entire obedience to Allah. It is not only religion but ideology itself. Jihad is a duty of Muslims and is still outlined and examined in 21th century. Islamic state known as ISIS was founded by Abu Musab Al Zarkav in 2006 with the name of “council of Muhajideens”. Other radical organizations have joined recently. Their work became actually discussed in the previews summer when they invaded in Iraq and occupied several cities. Considering current movement international society faced up to the reality. Furthermore, American and Iraq people struggle against terrorism together. To have a particular view of the situation we should start from describing the ISIS. United nations deem “Islamic state” to be the terrorist organization. There are included not only Syrian, Iraq and Libyan people but it has strong connections all around the world. One vision says that United States politic was the main reason which gave rise to the conflict. Leaders aim to spread their influence on the whole Islamic regions. This territory is called Levant which covers: Syria, Jordan, Israel, Cyprus and south turkey. From 2014 their leader is Abu-Bakr-All-Baghdad.
8 page
Tatia CHKOIDZE;
Tbilisi State University, International Relations The discussion must be conducted with reference of women’s participation into the conflicts. Generally they have taken part in it from the earlier centuries and managed to change war’s development. While military incursions they were charged of medical treatment, educational support and etc. within the fragile peace of the world some states are involved into conflicts as we said above. The exact number of women soldiers is unknown but on the other hand it can increase in a short period of time and the claiming that the problem has only local features is utopian. “Jihad is not only man’s duty”- says one member of the organization. Some believe that female participation is inevitable while others are against of it and suppose it as a mistake. Along with it number of such soldiers is rising from time to time. They broke into the school building and arrested pupils, teachers just because their clothes were too thin and hair wasn’t covered enough. This work is justified by SHARIA law. ISIS goal is to punish those who do not obey the rules and not follow the path of Allah. Majority of the women are the wives of Islamic state members, in some cases came out that they are victims of physical violence. Soldiers fight on behalf of their husbands. According to the poll of terrorism nearly 30
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
Female military contribution into “Islamic state” conflict
girls crossed the Syrian border in case to join the army. The average age is 18-24. There is Alma Mahmud form Glasgow whose last words were: “we will meet on the judgment day” A real example of Sharia Laws’ cultural and religious fanatic influence is American Journalists’ James Foley’s death scenes. The video clearly shows that he was judged because of U.S. policy toward East. And still, question is what forces women participate in this kind of movement. In this regard, young A Syrian woman, 25-year-old Khadija’s interview, is very important, she describes the female fighters’ real situation. It is clear that Khadija has overcome religious influences and escaped from Syria, now she is in Turkey. Female members of this organization are taught how to use weapon, disarmament and dismantling. But their real behavior overcomes this actions. On the other hand, Khadija surprisingly confesses: “I have received higher education, I shouldn’t be like this”. Women, who fulfill the requirements of Sharia Laws, become victims of this movement themselves. Khadija’s story shows that women who register in ISIS in order to support their spouses are under tough physical violence. The appearance of that’s the kind of women is a step towards a better future. If not for her Barbaric regime experience of ISIS would have remained unknown for the world.UN officials call the recent terrorist actsbarbaric, noting that Syria violated human rights immeasurably.Destroying the historical heritage, warriors beat Christians, Shiites regardless of age. It is crucial to discuss the role of opposite side’s female warriors in conflict resolution. The most important city in Kurdistan autonomic territory Peshmerga, is also known for famous elite women unit. This organization was established in 1996, and their purpose was the collapse of
9 page
Saddam Hussein. The number of frontline volunteer female fighters is increasing daily. They have already had an experience of fighting against male warriors. Nowadays, about 7000 volunteer soldier have joined the department of women protection, or Yekineyen Palestine Gel, which was formed into the Kurds Resistant movement. This group is directly associated with Kurdish Workers party, which is the organization fighting for human rights in Turkey. YPJ combats against Islamic soldiers and have occupied the territories in Syria and Iraq. We should mention the psychological influence of this group on warriors of Islamic fighters. The female Kurdish fighters are feared by Islamic State militants, who believe that they’ll go straight to hell if they are killed by a woman. A women fighter explained “This is not a myth but reality. I personally met IS fighters face-to-face. Women fighters infringe on their psyche. They believe they won’t go to paradise if they are killed by women. That is why they flee when they see women. I saw that personally at the Celaga front. We monitor their radio calls. When they hear a woman’s voice on the air, they become hysterical.” “The first time I fired I was scared, but my love for my country was bigger than my fear. Islamic State thought women can’t fight them, but here we are. We are not afraid, because we know what we are fighting for”The 19-year-old, who dropped out of school to join the YPG, Kurdish People’s Protection Units, told NBC. The female unit is determined not to allow Kobani to fall; they are fighting zealously, but they have not been able to curb advances by the more heavily armed extremists. According to the latest reports from Syria, the jihadists are taking the upper hand in the battle for the strategic town. In conclusion, it is clear that high level of cultural and religious fanaticism is pushing women to military activity.
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
Peace-building, confidence building and P2P diplomacy and Women, Peace and Security Agenda Excerpt from the ‘’Strategy for engagement and joint actions on confidence building and P2P diplomacy that involve women’’; UN Women, 2013 (The publication was prepared within the frame of EU-UN Women Project - “Innovative Action for Gender Equality in Georgia” (IAGE)) By Nino LAGVILAVA, Georgia These recommendations were primarily intended for the UN Women IAGE Programme, but also for all of the relevant development actors, NGOs, members of academia as well as respective government representatives. The recommendations are based on the research findings and analysis of the collected data. The aim of these recommendations was to contribute to a comprehensive approach to peace-building in Georgia through confidence building and P2P diplomacy and women’s involvement in this process. zz In Georgia’s current context of frozen conflicts, Peo-
ple-to-people diplomacy and all other CBMs should be considered one of the quickest ways to reach out to the communities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, thus it is important to effectively use these mechanisms to initiate joint projects facilitating the reconstruction of economic, cultural, environmental, social and societal structures and ties which bring mutual benefits and more effective peace outcomes for all parties involved;
tists, journalists, artists, religious leaders, youth groups, professional groups (such as teachers, doctors, journalists)who can interact with their counterparts with similar professional interests and encourage new thinking that can inform the official peace process. It is important to diversify the landscape as at present we are witnessing one and the same organizations being invited in various formats of P2P, which reduces the chance of increased participation and effective dissemination of information and experience; zz Given
the multiple internal and external factors, it is recommended to keep applying both Track I and Track II diplomacy within a strategic framework for peace. Moreover, it is important not to abandon multi-track diplomacy and try to operate along several tracks simultaneously, including official and unofficial conflict resolution efforts*1;
zz Among
CBMs, economic relations were named the most effective mechanism for rapprochement and For many interviewees, peace will not be established if all conflicting parties are not involved in peace-building process – Georgia proper, its break-away Regions of Abkhazians, South Ossetians and Russia as well; they consider track I diplomacy will have to play its role and track II diplomacy/ confidence building measures and all other tracks together should complement each other to reach the end result
*1
zz At
present,P2P diplomacy/ Track II diplomacy mainly involves NGO participants, and this should be diversified and extended to the involvement of other groups such as influential academics, scien-
10 page
re-establishing old ties. The Ergneti market, a tested provider of economic relations, was strongly propagated among respondents. The establishment of common markets/free economic zones across ABLs with both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, is considered to foster economic cooperation, strengthen business ties and speed up communication between the divided communities;*2 zz Infrastructure
and transportation is an important mechanism for improved communication and cooperation including establishing business, cultural and social ties. This will stimulate interest and desire among all parties involved to become engaged in this type of exercise;
zz Educational
opportunities/exchange programs abroad are considered to be a good opportunity for young women and men from all conflicting and breakaway regions to study together and think together about better solutions for common problems including resolution of existing conflicts (another opportunity to carry out P2P);
zz Given
the fact that informed citizenry is an important factor for re-establishing trust between conflicting parties, media role was named decisive in building confidence and trust, as it could play a constructive role to break stereotypes, change mind-sets and attitudes, shatter the enemy image of Georgia and show its peace-orientation, therefore it is recommended that:
Georgian broadcasting in understandable languages covers those breakaway territories and the messages are informative, peaceful and constructive; *2
There are number of papers written by various experts on free economic zones already, so this can be used as resource; also number of pilot projects have been launched by international organisations with small market infrastructure in place, also interesting resource (interview with International Organisation)
11 page
Internet resources and social media are actively and creatively used for P2P diplomacy initiatives; ICT development is supported in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Computer literacy is to be increased and youth is provided with personal computers to increase access to diverse information, access to social media and international broadcasting; zz Given
that special segments of society, such as women’s NGOs and CBOs, youth groups and IDPs are considered among the best resources for confidence building and advancing P2P activities*3, it is advised to increase the number and capacities of such groups in mediation, conflict resolution techniques, etc. so that professional and knowledgeable peace resources grow, reach a suitable level and then influence systems, societies, and states of mind;
zz Grassroots efforts/the role of local NGOs and CBOs
with the participation of women operating across the ABL and beyond have been evaluated very positively – thus an increase of cooperation with women’s NGOs from South Ossetia and Abkhazia and Georgia proper is recommended. Focus should be on their further capacity development and engagement of younger women in confidence building and P2P diplomacy processes;
zz The
role of local governments, especially those working in the districts and villages located across the ABL, should increase their capacity and knowledge in confidence building issues. They should be included in at least local-level dialogue and negotiations frameworks such as Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM)to increase their credibility and effectiveness in cross-border cooperation efforts; To be continued in the next issue For e.g. there is this unprecedented drive, enthusiasm and belief among IDPs, that they will return back to their villages and towns and they relentlessly work towards their dreams to come true
*3
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding!
Photo Collage from the Conference on “War, Peace and Women’s Participation”
The Newsletter is issued in the framework of the project - “Support strengthening the role of young women in building peace and stability in the South Caucasus’’ - the Regional project financed by Open Society Institute (OSI) and implemented by the South Caucasus Young Women Experts Network for Peace and Security (YWEPS) in partnership with IGPN - International Gender Policy Network. Email: info_yweps@yahoo.com; Web: http://youngwomenexperts.blogspot.com/