SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Women Only Peace and Reconciliation Discussion

Afghan Advocacy Initiative (AAI) is pleased to inform you that we will be holding a women only discussion event on peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan on Thursday 15th March (to commemorate International Women’s Day). The aim of this event is to create an opportunity for Afghan and non-Afghan women to voice their opinions about the peace and reconciliation process and discuss ideas on how to establish a platform to advocate for greater woman participation in the process.

The event will be chaired by Elizabeth Winter (a social scientist, researcher and Special Adviser to the British and Irish Afghanistan Group and the International Consortium for Refugees in Iran) and will include a guest speaker, Qahramaana Kakar (gender adviser in President Karzai’s negotiating team), who will talk about “Afghan women and the peace and reconciliation process”.

We hosted our first event on the reconciliation and peace process on 12th July last year (for the full report, please go to http://www.aainitiative.org/?p=228), during this event, one of the recommendations that was put forward was to seek out Afghan women’s views on the reconciliation process; it became apparent that they are the least consulted group in this process.

In the second half of 2011, two significant conferences in Istanbul and Bonn took place with the aim of establishing a “road map” for post 2014 Afghanistan. The discussions were largely concentrated on ending the conflict and bringing peace. Both, the Bonn and Istanbul conference stressed on the importance of an Afghan-led reconciliation process, which considers the interests of all groups within the Afghan society.

We are of the view that an inclusive Afghan approach is vital for achieving sustainable peace and moving towards establishing a stable and prosperous Afghanistan. It is for this reason that AAI has organised this event.

The points for discussion are:

1. What does the reconciliation and peace process mean to Afghan women?
2. Is the reconciliation and peace process going in the right direction?
3. Have the concerns of Afghan women been taken into consideration?
4. How can Afghan women become more involved in the reconciliation and peace process?
5. What can be done to secure sustainable peace in Afghanistan?
6. What should be the next step?

Please note that this is a woman only event and open to all women who are interested in Afghan politics and the reconciliation process. Feel free to forward this email to individuals who fit the stated criteria.

Biographies

Elizabeth Winter:

Elizabeth Winter, a researcher and social scientist, has been an independent specialist on Afghanistan since 1977/78. She has been an adviser to governments, the UN and NGOs; setting up and running programmes in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. She is, currently, the Special Adviser to the British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group, (BAAG) and the International Consortium for Refugees in Iran (ICRI).

Quhramaana Kakar:

Dedicated to political development and state building in Afghanistan, Quhramaana Kakar serves as gender adviser to the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (Joint Secretariat of the High Peace Council, President Karzai’s negotiating team). In her role, which she has held since November 2010, Ms. Kakar recommends strategies and policies for addressing the needs and protecting the rights of women and men. She advocates for the equal participation of women and men in all political and social aspects of the peace process and represents women’s perspectives in national and international forums. She has eight years of experience in development, particularly related to women and leadership.
Ms. Kakar has a master’s degree in Public Policy from Germany, with a focus on non-profit management and international political economy with specialization in gender politics in Afghanistan.  She also holds a master’s degree in Business Management and master’s of philosophy in Economics and Development.