Announcements

Announcing the 2010 Women PeaceMakers

The IPJ is pleased to announce our newest cohort of Women PeaceMakers: Sarah Akoru Lochodo of Kenya, Vaiba Kebeh Flomo of Liberia and Merlie B. Mendoza of the Philippines.

Read brief bios on these outstanding women here.

The peacemakers will be paired with Peace Writers Sofia Javed, Sara Koenders, Mary Liepold and Sigrid Tornquist.

Read brief bios here.

WPM from Peru Running for Vice-Mayor of Lima

Olenka Ochoa, Woman PeaceMaker from 2008, recently announced her candidacy for vice-mayor of Lima, Peru. She is running with mayoral candidate Luis Iberico, a former Congressmen and journalist from the Alliance for Progress political party. In an e-mail to IPJ staff and fellow peacemakers, she writes that Iberico shares her “interest in safety/security issues and the youth agenda,” and the party is committed to gender equality. Ochoa previously served on the Municipal Council of Lima, a story detailed in her narrative "Paving the Path to Peace." Elections are set for Oct. 3, 2010.

Photo: Iberico, Ochoa and Michel Azcueta, candidate for mayor of Villa El Salvador

IPJ Editor Interviews Mary Ann Arnado in the Philippines

During the IPJ's recent work in the Philippines, Editor Emiko Noma sat down with Woman PeaceMaker Mary Ann Arnado to interview her about the status of the peace process, national elections in May and an update on her work with the Mindanao Peoples Caucus and Bantay Ceasefire.

Interview

The IPJ in the Philippines - April 2010

Ugandan Peacemaker Receives Leadership Award

IPJ Woman PeaceMaker Sister Pauline Acayo of Uganda is one of two winners of this year’s Outstanding Leadership Award from the Association for Conflict Resolution’s (ACR) International Development Committee. She will receive the award – for “promoting conflict resolution in international development projects” – at ACR’s International Day on Sept. 1, 2010, in Chicago, Ill.

WPM Director in Mexico for International Gender Justice Dialogue

Dee Aker, IPJ deputy director and program director of Women PeaceMakers, was in Mexico from April 19-21 for the International Gender Justice Dialogue, convened by the Nobel Women’s Initiative and Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice. The dialogue brought together an outstanding group - gender experts, feminist legal theorists, peace mediators, legal practitioners, jurists, women’s rights advocates, policy makers, members of the media, activists and more - to develop a strategic, shared agenda for advancing gender justice around the globe.

Aker facilitated a panel discussion, “Peace Talks and Outcomes: Strategies and Challenges,” which featured Joanne Sandler, director of UNIFEM; Monica McWilliams of Northern Ireland; Esther Maria Gallego Zapata of Colombia; and Sarai Aharoni of Israel.

Women PeaceMakers Join Council on Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation

Shukrije Gashi, Palwasha Kakar, Svetlana Kijevcanin, Zarina Salamat and Latifah Anum Siregar recently became formal members of the Ara Pacis Initiative’s Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation. From April 19-22, the five peacemakers were in Rome, Italy to launch the council, described as “an international body of men and women, including those who, having suffered personal and collective tragedy, yet bring empathy and forgiveness to build a just future. The Council’s concrete projects will seek to bring conflicting communities into restored, more just human relationships” (from Web site of Ara Pacis Initiative). WPMs Marta Benavides and Thavory Huot are also members of the council but were not in Rome for the formal launch of the council.

Latest Narratives Published Online

"Being Peace" - The Life and Work of Marta Benavides of El Salvador -

By Leigh Fenly

"A View through the Mountains" - The Peacebuilding Work of Zeinab Mohamed Blandia in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan - By Jennifer Freeman

"Harmony in the Garden" - The Life and Work of Rubina Feroze Bhatti of Pakistan -

By Kaitlin Barker

"Paving the Path to Peace" - The Life and Work of Olenka Ochoa of Peru -

By Bianca Morales-Egan

"Peace Between Banyan and Kapok Trees" - Untangling Cambodia through Thavory Huot's Life Story - By Ozlem Ezer