Subject: [fem-women2000 743] On Behalf of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace(FWD)
From: lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 12:54:03 +0900
Seq: 743

---------------- Original message follows ----------------
 From: AIWUSA <aiwusa@aiwusa.org>
 To: aiwusa@aiwusa.org
 Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 19:59:51 -0500
 Subject: On Behalf of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
--

Association of Iranian Women, U.S.A. (AIWUSA)
http://www.aiwusa.org
email: aiwusa@aiwusa.org

_____________________________________________________
Urgent   Urgent   Urgent   Urgent   Urgent   Urgent

November 23, 2001

Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Women must participate in the recovery of Afghanistan.
We know that the letter below would be strengthened by your groups'
support.  We would like your group or network to consider co-signing it.

The issues addressed in this letter will be on the negotiating table in
Bonn the week of November 25th.  We therefore ask you to respond
immediately if possible.  Please telephone (416) 603-7915 or fax (416)
603-7916 or e-mail vow@interlog.com today if at all possible.
Please feel free as well to use this letter as a basis for your group's
efforts to assure the full participation of women in Afghanistan future.

With our many thanks,

Carolyn Langdon and Marion Pape
Co-Chairs, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
 _____________________________
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
203 - 761 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario M6J 1G1
Tel.:  (416) 603-7915;  Fax:  (416) 603-7916
vow@interlog.com;  www.interlog.com/~vow

Women must participate in the recovery of Afghanistan

We direct this demand to Prime Minister Jean Chretien (Canada) and

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Manley
President George Bush (USA)
Prime Minister Tony Blair (UK)
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi
UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Kamil Hossain
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson

The situation for women in Afghanistan under the Taliban has been,
without
doubt, one of the most blatant and horrendous examples of systemic human

rights violation in our time.  It is unthinkable that Afghan women not
be
invited to participate fully in all aspects of Afghanistan's recovery.
But the record of the Northern Alliance in regards to women leaves
little room
for optimism that women will be invited without concerted and determined

leadership from the United Nations and from all those involved in the
present crises.
We call on those now involved in discussing post-Taliban Afghanistan to
ensure prompt and effective action for the participation of Afghan women

in government, in transitional and future arrangements, and in all
stages of
decision-making in other conflict resolution and peace processes. We
reject absolutely that any complexities whatsoever in the Afghan
situation can
justify the exclusion of women from participation in these matters.
We remind you that the unanimous adoption, in October 2000, of UN
Security
Council Resolution 1325, Women, Peace and Security, is binding on each
member government of the United Nations in accordance with the present
Charter. The spirit and letter of this historic Resolution 1325 mandates

this full participation of women.

In accordance with the obligations of Resolution 1325, we add that any
kind of UN mission or support that is provided to Afghanistan must have
an
adequate and high-level representation of women. It also stipulates that

gender issues be addressed as part of the political and peace processes
of
reconstruction which would include constitutional, electoral,
legislative,
judicial reform efforts and the police.  With reference to the
Resolution's humanitarian and protection obligations, we call on all
parties to
the  conflict to take special protection measures to protect women and
girls
>from gender-based violence.

We are vehement that these binding steps are essential elements for the
building of democracy and human rights and the peaceful recovery of
Afghanistan.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Langdon and Marion Pape
Co-Chairs, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
 ______________________________

We support the statement above.

Contact Person:   ______________________________________________

Name of Your Group/Network:   __________________________________

Your Group's Full Mailing Address:  ____________________________________

Telephone:   ____________________________________________________

Fax:   __________________________________________________________

E-mail:   ____________________________________________________


Address Reference List

The Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada K1A 0A6
Fax: (613) 941-6900

Hon. John Manley, Minister of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Canada K1A 0G2
Fax: (613) 996-3443

President George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500-0001 USA
Fax: (202) 456-2993

The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair, Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1, U.K.
Fax: 44-207-839-9044

Kofi Annan, Secretary General
United Nations Headquarters, Rm. S-3800
New York, NY  10017  USA
Fax: (212) 963-4879

Lakhdar Brahimi, UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan
United Nations Headquarters, Rm. S-3235
New York, NY  10017  USA
Fax: (212) 963-0616

Kamil Hossain, UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211, Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: 41-22-917-9012

Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211, Geneva, 10
Switzerland
Fax: 41-22-917-9012












 _________________________________________________________________________
 fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5
 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml
 visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem

Return to Index
Return to fem-women2000 HOME