The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

sist on the resumption of negotiations based on a set of clear political
principles.
Following the Istanbul meeting, the founding members of the IWC
began to organize internally and create the mechanisms needed for the
implementation of their programme. They launched a process to identify
an initial group of sixty members – twenty from each group – who could
promote the IWC Charter and begin to develop activities on the ground.
The aim has been to ensure that IWC members represented as broad a
political spectrum as possible, and the diversity of sectors, social group -
ings, religious communities, political positions, and localities within each
society, as well as key women in decision-making positions and civil society.
In Israel, besides woman parliamentarians and prominent public fig -
ures, a decision was made to allocate places to Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, and
Israeli-citizen Palestinian women. On the Palestinian side, geographic and
political considerations were central, so that provision was made for members
from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Although the composition
on both sides has failed to include key groups in each society –
Hamas, and, on the other side, the Jewish settlers and their backers – it
does extend far beyond the familiar scope of existing peace movements.
Internationally, UNIFEM has been recruiting prominent international, Israeli
and Palestinian members. The honorary co-chairs at the head of the
organization are the presidents of Finland and Liberia; the members include
the foreign ministers of Switzerland, Iceland and Austria, as well
as Nobel laureates, ministers, parliamentarians, and key NGO leaders
from the European Union, Africa, North America and Asia.
The international steering committee of the IWC is composed of four
members from each group. It coordinates activities and maintains overall
responsibility for decision-making. The secretariat consisting of an Israeli,
a Palestinian, and international coordinator works together at the
international level. The local coordinators administer internal activities in
each society.
The activities of the IWC have focused on four main areas. The first has
centred on monitoring political developments and formulating genderdriven
political positions on events as they take place, on permanent
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