The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

We can draw many lessons from the war in Yugoslavia:
� Conflicts and wars can break out in the shadow of upheavals in
interregional and global power relationships.
� Ethno-nationalism can lead to civil war in the middle of Europe, and
anywhere in the world; no country is immune to it. For this reason,
particular vigilance is necessary. Ethnic homogeneity is the reactio n -
ary myth that justifies violence.
� War does not solve a single societal problem. The social structures
of all societies are conflict-laden. The key is to find strategies for
solutions which do not end in destruction and war. Violent conflicts
and wars all have long pre-histories. Knowledge of the danger
must become engraved in the consciousness of the international
community.
Information about the worsening conflicts and the changes of public
opinion in the process of the ideological preparation of war can
remain unperceived and unpublicized in the early stages, both
by the international and the domestic public, and even by the diplomatic
representatives in the countries involved. That information
comes from civil society groups and women’s initiatives, which
have a high degree of sensitivity for the worsening of violent relationships.
To note this and take it seriously would be an important
first step.
� The development of an early warning system of conflict observation
from the local to the national and on to the international level
is absolutely necessary.
� The interrelationship between economic difficulties and the development
of violent conflicts is obvious. An international and interregional
strategy and aid for economic stabilization could therefore
contribute to reducing the potential for conflict.
� Considerable peace dividends during the war and after the end of
fighting can be provided by those groups which do not let themselves
be broken apart into friend/foe categories, do not permit
themselves to be corrupted, and which are socially rooted, and can
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