NCEO-CCEC - BPW Europe

NCEO-CCEC
Network of Parliamentary Committees for Equal Opportunities
for Women and Men in the European Union
Extraordinary Conference, Athens 31 mars 2003
DECLARATION ON PEACE
We, elected representatives of National Parliaments of the EU Member States and Candidate
Countries and of the European Parliament, gathered in Athens on 31 March 2003,
- recall that peace is one of the guiding principals not only in the European Union but worldwide
as well;
- support the willingness and capacity of women working for peace, security and democracy
world-wide, and that women have proved their capacity to solve conflicts by peaceful means
such as dialogue, reconciliation and negotiations;
- regret that despite the number of knowledgeable and capable women, they are still
underrepresented in negotiations and diplomacy aimed at ending and preventing armed
conflicts, and that women do not fully participate on those levels where important political
decisions are taken;
- consider the war in Iraq a total failure of international diplomacy and disaster for all directly
or indirectly involved in the conflict;
- sympathise with all those, women and men, suffering under this war and especially the
civilian population where within women and children are those who suffer most;
- call on the international community to ensure, through the UN agencies and specialised
NGO´s, the necessary humanitarian emergency aid to the Iraqi people, taking into account
the gender specific needs and further requests all parties involved to respect fully the Geneva
Convention;
- express its confidence that the UN will evaluate the needs and damages after the conflict and
that the international community co-ordinated by the UN, will establish for all the peoples in
Iraq peace and security;
- request that after the war in Iraq women shall have the possibility to play an important role
in future post-conflict Iraq;

- request that women's voices are taken into account in the strive for peace, security and
democracy, in the Middle East, Iraq and all other areas of armed conflicts ;
- request equal participation of women and men in peace negotiations and in post-conflict
peace and reconciliation efforts;
- request, as long as equal participation does not exist, the immediate creation of an
International Women's Council, which should work in parallel with the relevant UN bodies;
- propose that the first imminent task of this Council should be to participate actively in the
process of building peace and security in the Middle East;
- note with satisfaction that the Presidency-in-Office of the Union has declared its support to
the creation of such a Council and has agreed to put this proposal on the agenda of the EU
Council.
- call on all women and women organisations to build bridges, despite differences in ethnic
origin, religion, culture, history and political conviction in working actively for reconciliation
leading to the promotion of peace, security and prosperity, not only in the Middle East, but
world-wide;
- ask the President of this Conference to forward this declaration to Presidents of the National
Parliaments in Member States, Candidate Countries and European Parliament, Presidents of
the Commission and the Council, and to the UN Secretary General and to have this
declaration published in the major European and Arab newspapers.