This report looks at the various experiences and realities shared by women at two different panel discussions held in New York by the Asia Pacific Women Watch. These panel discussions were held as parallel events at the recent meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women from 25 February to 5 March 2008.

Women's Voices in Conflict Resolution in Asia

Varying degrees and modes of conflict occur in Asia affecting its citizens because of no recourse to government solutions or participation in mediation initiatives. Women from this region are looking at ways in which they can participate in conflict resolution while lobbying for long-term conflict solutions and ending violence. A panel held on 28 February 2008 by the Asia Pacific Women's Watch looked into the concerns surrounding conflict in the region.

Dina Siddiqi of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) highlighted the conflict between the government and the Jumma indigenous peoples living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the eastern region of Bangladesh. The Jumma people continue their resistance in asserting their own identity in opposition to the dominant Bengali identity of the state of Bangladesh. In 1997, a peace treaty was signed between the hill tribes and the government to end the conflict but reports of land-grabbing and forced relocation of the Jummas still persists. Siddiqi stressed that women’s groups are taking on the issues and assisting victims of armed conflict. However, these women’s groups have not considered the issues beyond nationalism. She emphasised on looking how these ethnic groups are citizens of Bangladesh as a solution to the conflict.

Himalayan Human Rights Monitors executive director Anjana Shakya also reported their work with child survivors of armed conflict in Nepal. Nepal experienced armed conflict between the government forces and the separatist groups from 1996 to 2006. Shakya's organisation holds counselling workshops with children, produces comic books based on the experiences of children in armed conflict, and advises suggestions and ideas for reconciliation. She reported that working with children has reaped a lot of benefits. It gives the children a chance to empower themselves, to heal themselves from the effects of conflict, to regain their self-esteem and confidence, and, hopefully, to rebuild their lives.

On the other hand, Mi Sue Pwint of the Women's League of Burma talked less about strategies and more about the problems of the conflict. She mentioned how 40% of state budget is used for military and only 2% is for health and education. Plus, humanitarian aid does not reach the ethnic groups, aggravating the conflict situation because of increasing poverty. Pwint said there is a need for women to participate in the peace-building and negotiations for peace, but most of the women's groups lack capacity and experience difficulty in getting funds. A lot of the women's initiatives are dependent on external funding sources across the border, so peace building efforts are under resourced.

Sepali Kottegoda of the Sri Lanka Women's Media Collective shared on how their organisation worked on issues of armed conflict for two decades. In 2002, they organised an international women's mission inviting international and women's groups to visit the conflict areas. She said that the government was openness to discussion and dialogue opened the opportunity to influence policy at the government level. As a result of this women's mission, a subcommittee on gender interventions in the peace process was created. However, the peace process broke down in the past years leaving much of the work undone. Now, they continually organise mobilisations and protests to end the war and urges the government for a nonmilitary solution to armed conflict.

Pam Rajput from Women’s Resources and Advocacy Centre based Chandigarh spoke about the conflict in Kashmir and in northeast India. She shared how they organize women’s networks in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to discuss conflict issues.

Source:

Asian Centre for Human Rights , (2008). Bangladesh: The Army attacks Buddhism to facilitate illegal settlement in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, retrieved on March 13, 2008 from
http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2008/203-08.html