Dr. Choman Hardi, CGDS founder and director, participated in events celebrating the 19th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in New York. The week-long activities focused on discussing progress, obstacles, limitations, and ways forward.
Dr. Hardi took part in the UNWomen's Multi-stakeholder Forum on October 28th. Representatives of NGOs from various countries as well as UN member states and UN agencies divided into groups to discuss four important issues: (1) women's meaningful participation in all aspects of peace and security, (2) protection of women human rights defenders and peace-builders, (3) conflict prevention, and (4) promotion of gender equality through the WPS agenda. Dr. Choman joined the discussion about gender equality and added two outcomes from her research to the list of recommendations for UN agencies and member states. The two points were: (1) safeguarding or ring-fencing a portion of funding for gender equality work regardless of arising emergencies—following Dr. Choman’s recent LSE paper, “Gender Issues in the Context of a Humanitarian Crisis” and (2) institutionalizing gender justice in education—not just training—for all who deal with SGBV cases, including the police, the judiciary, the health sector, and the media.
Before traveling to the U.S., Dr. Choman asked representatives of women in Rojava to prepare a video to share during the week of WPS events. There was no space to share the video, but she spoke about the plight of women from Rojava at the end of the forum, and offered to share the video with anyone interested. She also requested support and solidarity from the powerful women who were present. The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Ann Linde, promised to speak on behalf of women in Rojava in her meeting with the UN. Others also expressed interest in watching the video, sharing it with their colleagues and students, and thinking about possible actions of support.