UNITED NATIONS (AP) — On the eve of International Women’s Day, leading women’s rights campaigners at the United Nations and the African Union and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate criticized male-dominated governments Tuesday for excluding women from peace negotiations. They complained that governments are ignoring a U.N. resolution adopted in 2000 demanding equal participation for women in talks to end conflicts. It also calls on all parties to conflicts to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, especially rape and other forms of sexual abuse. Gbowee called for women peace activists to be part of all peace missions, calling them “custodians of their communities.”“We will continue to search for peace in vain in our world unless we bring women to the table,” she warned. Diop said the African Union is helping to promote African women leaders who can sit at peace tables and to bring women from rival regions together, as just happened at a retreat in Pretoria, South Africa, for Ethiopian women.

Source: Ethiopian News March 08, 2023 05:25 UTC