Hosted by WISCOMP (Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace) in New Delhi, 21-22 February 2015, the PRIO project Making Women Count for Peace co-organised the Roundtable event Women and Peacebuilding: A Policy Dialogue. The Roundtable brought together Indian Members of Parliament and participants from the public service, academia, media, corporate and NGO sectors, with a view to open up spaces of dialogue on the impact of violence on women and men in areas of conflict.
The aim of the event was to provide a platform for dialogue between policymakers and researchers from the field on:- Bridging the gap between human security needs and the imperatives of law and order.
- Exploring the many ways in which women can be made active participants in the formal peace initiatives.
- Examining the challenges and possibilities of women's full participation in peace processes.
- Suggesting methodologies to enhance the effectiveness of women's presence in peace processes.
- Sensitizing policy establishments to put in place structures and procedures for effective implementation of these processes.
Drawing on the case studies of Northeast India and Nepal, Roundtable participants discussed lessons learnt from the field which might have wider impact on gender justice policies in India. Participants in the Roundtable were also encouraged to comment on a draft of a new PRIO policy brief on Women's empowerment in India: From participation to political agency.
