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