This time talking to the great Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, consultant to the United Nations on the subject of women and conflict and co-founder and executive director of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN.) She is also an author specializing in gender, equality and non-violence. As a field researcher and activist, she has worked extensively with the United Nations training governments and NGOs worldwide in peacemaking.
First, we spoke about the upcoming elections in the US and the valuable importance of electoral law and democracy. But above all, we talked about the need for more women in foreign policy and in peace processes. Every day, women around the world are leading movements to create enduring, peaceful societies. It’s time to recognize the invaluable but often overlooked role that women play in ending and preventing conflict.
Sanam Anderlini offers a comprehensive, cross-regional analysis of women's peacebuilding initiatives around the world and highlights the endemic problems that stunt progress. She demonstrates how gender sensitivity in programming can be a key component in the complex task of building sustainable peace and provides specific examples of how to draw on women's untapped potential. Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini helped draft the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).
In view of the 20th anniversary of the seminal Resolution, it was an honor to speak with Sanam as one of its main initiators and monitors.
The resolution, adopted on October 31, 2000, represented the first time that the Security Council had addressed the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. The resolution also recognized the critical role women can, and do, play in peacebuilding.
