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afrol.com, 17 July - 50 Burundian women delegates and observers are participating in an All-Party Burundian Women’s Peace Conference from July 17-20 in Arusha, Tanzania. The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation are convening the conference, the first of its kind. Burundian women from inside and outside the country, including refugee and displaced women, will meet as a special interest group to discuss peace in Burundi in the context of the Arusha All party Burundi Peace Negotiations. The meeting intends to focus the attention of the negotiators and the peace process in Burundi on gender specific issues with special attention on the transitional period and implementation of the Peace Agreement. Taking advantage of this new opportunity for women to have a voice in the process the women will formulate a set of recommendations for an agenda on reconstruction and reconciliation that will guarantee women’s rights to rebuild and govern Burundian society alongside men. The 19 Burundian parties taking part in the Arusha Burundi Peace Negotiation nominated two women delegates each to take part in the meeting. They will address such key issues as: ending impunity for gender-based war crimes and crimes against humanity; training defense and security forces to understand their responsibilities to women and children; guaranteeing women’s rights in the constitution; enacting laws to assist in eliminating gender discrimination in Burundian society; and implementing a quota system to ensure that women make up at least a minimum proportion of elected representatives. "Women’s contributions to peace negotiations and the rebuilding of Burundian society are essential to sustaining peace, economic and social growth, and reconstruction," said Mandela, who has been facilitating the peace process since January 2000 under the auspices of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation. At a UNIFEM briefing to the negotiating parties last month, each of the 19 parties committed themselves to guarantee women’s participation in the implementation of the peace accord. The All-Party Women’s Conference provides a unique opportunity for Burundian women to make specific recommendations to their male counterparts and the Facilitator, Mandela regarding the peace process and its implementation. Through a significant part of the 1990s, Burundi experienced alarming rates of human and physical destruction that claimed countless lives and displaced more than one million people. An estimated sixty-five to eighty-five per cent of Burundian refugees are women and children, and the impact of the conflict on Burundian women has been particularly severe, characterized by rape, killing and forced displacement. The conflict drastically limited women’s access to health care, shelter and food, which resulted in a nutrition and reproductive health crisis. Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM said. "Gender equality and inclusion for all citizens is a fundamental value in which the new constitution and reorganization of state institutions must be based. There is no better way to ensure women’s inclusion than having them actively involved in developing the peace accord and its plan for implementation." Source: UNIFEM
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