The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls - UNFPA

THE ROLE OF WOMEN’S NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN
REHABILITATION, RECONSTRUCTION AND RECONCILIATION
Ketty Lazaris
President
Mediterranean Women's Studies Centre (KEGME)
Introduction
<strong>Armed</strong> conflicts are one <strong>of</strong> the biggest concerns <strong>of</strong> the world community
today, as their implications on people, societies and economies are devastating.
<strong>Conflict</strong>s leave behind thousands <strong>of</strong> dead, thousands <strong>of</strong> widows and orphans and
millions <strong>of</strong> refugees and displaced civilians. <strong>The</strong>y also affect the social, economic
and physical infrastructure on which civilian life depends.
For women, armed conflicts involve painful paths <strong>of</strong> dramatic changes and
learning, where living occurs between traumas and new perceptions. <strong>Conflict</strong>s
challenge women’s survival capabilities and strategies, yet their capabilities and
contributions, both during war and post-conflict reconstruction, are not fully
appreciated. <strong>The</strong>re is a strong tendency to present women as suffering victims.
<strong>The</strong> mass media present conflict and refugee situations through images
specifically <strong>of</strong> women, children and old people, who are given assistance mostly
by women. This presents a message <strong>of</strong> men heroically defending community
interests and women as victims and caretakers. No attention is given to other
factors: that women shoulder the economic and psychological burdens <strong>of</strong> their
families, that they play foremost roles in supporting their communities and that
they play extraordinary roles in peace-building and reconciliation.
Ketty Lazaris, President <strong>of</strong> the Mediterranean Women’s Studies Centre
(KEGME), has been active in the women’s movement for nearly 30 years. She
has founded numerous women’s NGOs and networks, specifically the Women's
Union <strong>of</strong> Greece (EGE), the Women's Centre for Research and Action for Peace,
the European Network for Women's Studies (ENWS) and the Balkan Women's
Network for Democratization and <strong>Conflict</strong> Transformation, on which she is also a
Board Member. In addition to representing KEGME in all major United Nations
conferences on women, she is the author <strong>of</strong> several papers on women’s issues.
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