COMMITTEE ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND EQUAL
OPPORTUNITIES
- Chairperson
-
02.COM.FEMM/03/D18470/ES/ddl Secretary
General Kofi Annan
Office
of the Secretary General
United
Nations
New
York, NY 10017
USA
Brussels,
5 May 2003
Dear Secretary-General,
Re: Declaration on Peace
One of the priority issues of the
Committee which I have the honour to chair is to combat all forms of violence
against women, violation of women´s rights and enhance women´s role
in prevention and resolution of conflicts. With the outbreak of the war in
Iraq, I took the initiative to a Declaration on Peace, which was signed by
members of a Network of Parliamentarians responsible for gender issues in EU
Member States, Accession States and European Parliament, who met on 31 March
2003, in Athens. The Declaration is at Annex.
The declaration aims at
promoting women´s role in decision-making at all levels where important
political decisions are taken, especially concerning prevention and resolution
of conflicts.
May I draw your attention to
the requests of the Declaration:
- that women shall have the possibility to play an
important role in future post-conflict Iraq;
- that
women´s voices are taken into account in the strive for peace, security
and democracy, in the Middle East, Iraq and all other areas of armed conflicts;
- that women and
men participate on an equal footing in
peace negotiations and in post-conflict peace and reconciliation efforts;
- that, as long
as equal participation of men and women does not exist, an International
Women´s Council, which should work in parallel with the relevant UN
bodies, should be created immediately.
I urge you, Mr.
Secretary-General, to employ all possible means at your disposal in order to
ensure that the requests of the
Declaration are taken into account, especially
when the Road Map for promoting peace and security in Middle East is
materialised, and when a new Government in Iraq is created. We all hope that
women will be given the opportunity to participate in designing the future of
post-conflict Iraq, take part in the political decision-making process as well
as in the reconstruction and the future government.
Yours sincerely,
Anna KARAMANOU
Annex: Declaration on Peace
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