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About Colloquium INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY Monrovia, Liberia | March 7-8, 2009Coinciding with International Women's Day (March 8), women leaders from around the world will convene for the International Colloquium for Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security (the Colloquium) at the SKD Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. The Colloquium, conceptualized in 2006 during the inauguration of Africa’s first female President, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, will bring together 400 international participants and 400 Liberian national participants, including female leaders; heads of state and government; ministers; CEOs, presidents and executive directors; and NGO and community leaders. The Conference, co-convened by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland, seeks to create an environment for women and their champions around the world to discuss, learn, demonstrate and act on the benefits and lessons learned from women in leadership.
• The Angie Brooks International Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, Peace and Security, which will be based in Monrovia, will be launched in March 2009. The Centre will support the implementation of actions emerging from the International Colloquium, through, inter alia: a) training to empower current and future women leaders; and b) research, analysis and advocacy on women's leadership. It is being established in honor of the late Angie Brooks, Liberia's former Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Africa's first woman President of the United Nations 24th General Assembly (1969). • Furthermore, the establishment of the Centre is symbolic in that through it, women in leadership worldwide are being honored. The Colloquium will initiate other capacity-building projects such as the Young Professional Emerging Leaders Dialogue Series, one of which will establish a 5-region dialogue series entitled Uncovering Barriers to Women’s Political Leadership: Today’s Leaders Reach Out to Tomorrow’s Leaders. This series, which precedes the conference from December to January 2009, will feature live interviews of and participation from current and former women heads of state interacting with a global audience of future world leaders. Each dialogue will produce recommendations and solutions on how to break down gender barriers to leadership. Colloquium Goals COLLOQUIUM GOALS AND THEME LEADS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTGoal 1: Empower women to be more effective leaders by linking them with their peers from around the world and sharing best practices Goal 2: Support the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Goal 3: Contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal #3 on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, including building capacity and resources of government and non-governmental institutions to work for women's rights and economic empowerment Goal 4: Demonstrate the clear gender dimensions of climate change, environment protection and sustainable development Goal 5: Launch the Angie Brooks International Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security, in Monrovia to support the implementation of action emerging from the Colloquium through, inter alia, training and research
• Share and further develop effective models of economic empowerment and decent work for women and men. Theme Lead: International Trade Centre (Sabine Meitzel); Partners include Cisco Systems; AWDF; ILO; Realizing Rights; Association of Black Charities • Engage young people in supporting and embracing women's empowerment, leadership development and contributions to international peace and security. Theme Lead: World YWCA (Natalie Fisher-Spalton); Partners include World Association of Girl Guides/Girl Scouts; UNICEF; UNFPA; ILO • Amplify the efforts and achievements of women leaders in conflict-affected areas. Theme Lead: UNIFEM Partners include Femmes Africa Solidarite; Sudanese Women's Forum; Kenyan Women's Coalition; Government of Norway; UNIFEM Regional Director in Rwanda and others Goal 2: Support the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Theme Lead: Femmes Africa Solidarite (Bineta Diop) Partners include Liberian Ministry of Gender and Development; Government of Iceland; Realizing Rights; UNIFEM; UNMIL and other UN agencies; Mano River Union and others
• Facilitate the networking of African women that leads to the implementation of 1325, including support for concrete programs for Liberian women as a response to a Liberia country-level implementation plan for SCR 1325. Theme Lead: Liberian Minister of Gender and Development, Vabah Gayflor, supported by Colloquium Secretariat • Prepare an action plan that includes a Colloquium statement from Presidents Johnson-Sirleaf and Halonen to the Security Council calling for stronger accountability mechanisms for 1325 and other measures. • Consider the impact of migration and returning refugees on development and women's empowerment. Theme Lead: Ndiro Ndiaye, International Organization for Migration Goal 3: Contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal #3 on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, including building capacity and resources of government and non-governmental institutions to work for women's rights and economic empowerment Theme Lead: Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women; Liberian Minister of Gender and Development Vabah Gayflor, supported by Colloquium Secretariat Partners include UNIFEM; Women, Faith and Development Alliance
Goal 4: Demonstrate the clear gender dimensions of climate change, environment protection and sustainable development Theme Lead: Government of Finland (Aira Kalela)
• Electrification of rural areas and providing other forms of energy with renewable sources • Increasing of forest areas, sustainable forest management including agro forestry • Adaptation and development of agricultural methods, crops and irrigation in dry lands and flooding areas • Development of water management and sanitation in dry or flooding regions • Make women leaders aware of the role of women in management of natural resources and linkage between gender and climate change • Make women leaders aware of various resources of financing, which could be used, both for mitigation and adaptation of climate change as well as facilitate programs and projects for financing Goal 5: Launch the Angie Brooks International Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security, in Monrovia to support the implementation of action emerging from the Colloquium through, inter alia, training and research Theme Lead: Lalla Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa Partners include Honorable Olubanke King-Akerele, Liberian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Carole Henderson Tyson, Realizing Rights Organization The Colloquium is co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, Honorable Olubanke King-Akerele, and the Minister of Gender and Development of Liberia, Honorable Vabah Gayflor. The International Secretariat is headed by the Colloquium Manager, Counselor Yvette Chesson-Wureh. The National Steering Committee is chaired by the Minister of Gender and Development, Vabah Gayflor who is also a member on the International Steering Committee. The International Steering Committee is comprised of the three regional Vice-Chairs as follows: The Vice-Chair for Africa and Asia, Bineta Diop, Executive Director, Femmes Africa Solidarite (FAS) in Senegal; The Vice-Chair for Europe and the Middle East, Honorable Elizabeth Rehn, Minister of State for Finland and the first female Minister of Defense in the world; The Vice-Chair of The Americas: North America, Latin America & Caribbean Countries, the Council of Women World Leaders, Dr. Carole Henderson Tyson, and other Eminent women. The Council of Women World Leaders comprised of all sitting women Heads of State and former women Heads of State in the world, will also have President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf host its annual conference in Liberia, marking its first ever in Africa.
*Reports to Co-Chairs while serving as Secretary to the International Steering Committee and managing the Colloquium Secretariat with its various management committees. N.B. The International Steering Committee consists of the individuals in the center box reflecting the Co-Chairs as well as the Vice Chairs. Angie Brooks Center The Colloquium will announce the March 2009 launch of the Angie Brooks International Centre on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, Peace and Security, to be based in Monrovia. The Centre will support the implementation of actions emerging from the Colloquium, through training to empower current and future women leaders, and research, analysis and advocacy on women’s leadership. The Centre, to be based on the University of Liberia campus at Fendel, will honor Angie Brooks, Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Africa’s first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly (1969). Its establishment is symbolic in that through it, women in leadership roles worldwide are being honored. The Centre will be a proactive and practical instrument of research, workshops and training in women’s empowerment and leadership development, and as such, will ensure sustainability of the results of the Colloquium.
• Research • Training • Intergenerational Legacies and Leadership Development • Advocacy Efforts have been initiated to explore how the proposed Centre could cooperate with related centres worldwide, in Jordan (United Nations University International Leadership Institute), Canada (Centre for Research and Teaching on Women, at McGill University in Montreal), and the United States (Women in International Security, at Georgetown University). Others are the Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement, the Cairo Regional Centre for Peace and International Cooperation in Egypt, the Gender Equality Research Centre and Gender Equality Training Program at the University in Iceland as well as the Peacekeeping Training Institute in Iceland. Pre-Conference Dialogues A 3-part series of Virtual Dialogues is being organised during January and February in the lead-up to the Colloquium. These Dialogues will feature live interviews and participation of current and former women Heads of State interacting with a global audience of future leaders. They will produce recommendations and solutions on how to break down barriers to leadership which will be presented at the Colloquium. For more information, visit Women's Dialogue Website (www.womensdialogue.org). |
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