From the Editor

O u r S e p t e m b e r i s s u e commemorates the United Nations International Day of Peace which falls on the 21st of this month. We highlight the need to involve women in promoting peace with our articles. While we may not work for the UN, preside over a nation or be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for our efforts, we can all do our share to promote peace at the family level, work level and within our own communities as this is where world peace must begin.

Our first article by Debbie Singh on peace and harmony between men and women in communities stresses the need to involve women. This is followed with an article by Paula Wyndhow on Gender and Peace. Lakshmi Persaud looks at the lessons on peace learned from world history and the need to work at establishing peace and harmony. Devi Lalloo shares her experiences in Africa and Australia on the relationship between peace and health. For Pat Faulkner, the peace process begins from within with “Thoughts on Peace”. Jaya Earnest details the remarkable stories of our women Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Let us all remember the wonderful prayer of St. Francis:

(for the Editorial Team)

Lord make me an instrument of your peace.Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seekto be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.It is in pardoning that we are pardoned

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

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Issue 18 | September 2013 | 4 Pages | For free circulation only

I sincerely believe that world peace is not only possible; it's inevitable if we can involve women. Women, because of their life experiences, bring to the peace dialogue certain qualities and perspectives complementary to those of men. As a woman, therefore, I take the challenge of bringing into the mainstream of decision making seriously. It is an essential element to the attainment of worldwide unity, and as Baha'u'llah said, "The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established." Baha'u'llah - the Founder of the Bahai Faith.

Startling changes in recent years have profoundly altered the character of society, plunging humankind into a state of anxiety. Everyone on the planet has been touched in some way by the break-down of religious and po l i t i c a l i n s t i t u t i ons wh i ch traditionally provided stability.

As disturbing as these dislocations are to individuals, they can also be seen as preparing the ground for the process of building a new social order which could support a lasting peace.

Globally, youth need to have the option for a more purposeful ex i s t ence tha t

Peace-building over the long t e r m r e q u i r e s t h e transformation of society based on justice, education for all, the alleviation of p o v e r t y a n d t h e abandonment of deeply rooted prejudices.

empowers them to participate in transforming themselves and their communities. A lack of a sense of purpose makes young people vulnerable to engaging in destructive activities that further u n d e r m i n e p e a c e f u l communities. At a time when conquest and aggression have lost their credibility as means of solving difficult problems, other qualit ies are needed l ike intuit ion, networking and

cooperation. These are qualities that are women's strengths. Thus as increasing numbers of women are admitted into decision-making, they enrich consultation with fresh perspectives, create a more moral and psychological climate and new dynamics of problem-solving emerge. The inclusion of women thus directly affects the pace and success of the peace-building process.

Mothers, sisters, wives and daughters worldwide do not want to see their sons and daughters, brothers, sisters and fathers and mothers affected by war. This further increases the impetus to find peaceful solutions to problems being faced in the world.

Despite rational arguments for including women in decision-making, there is great resistance. The exclusion of women from important consultations is so deeply ingrained in most cultures that change is unlikely without a conscious, deliberate effort to involve them. The transition to full equality between women and men is an evolutionary process requiring education and patience with oneself and others, as well as an unswerving determination.

The progress of humanity depends on men and women working together; therefore, both must be equally developed. Women, given equal opportunities for education, have already proven to be the equals of men in intellectual and creative capacity. Men must encourage and facilitate the full development of women, as women must support men in their development towards this new and much needed change of society towards

.

'Peace and Harmony'

by Dr Debbie Singh (Jinja, Uganda)

Debbie Singh is a medical doctor from Australia who has been living in Uganda for the past 10 years. While continuing her medical practice, she has been involved in a youth empowerment program, research on women and health and is currently undertaking a PhD focusing on the development of a model for training community health workers in low resource environments.

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orldW ruo ni ynomraH dna ecaeP :eussI laicepS MEN AND WOMEN SUPPORTING PEACE IN COMMUNITIES

Issue 18 | Page 2

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

(Mother Teresa )

When I first contemplate the idea of peace, I am drawn to that quiet place my mind can rest without interruption. It is the space where the mind is quiet, not bombarded with external stimuli, and free from rumination and worry. It is the sense of contentment that comes from belonging to others, bearing witness to others' lives as they bear witness to ours.

However, as the mother of two young daughters, my concern with peace extends beyond myself, to the local and global community we inhabit and that my children will inherit. Living in Western Australia we are fortunate. My daughters are freely encouraged to attend school and engage in recreational activities of their choosing. Overall, they will have the same opportunities as men to create lives that they value. Living in a democracy they are obliged to vote for their country's leaders and as such will contribute to shaping the beliefs and values of our nation.

Unfortunately, in many countries around the world women do not have the same rights as men to be educated, to work, to move freely and to break free from the gender stereotypes and roles that society has pre-determined for them. They have small spaces to be seen and heard, little voice and often their needs remain subsumed under national interests. Acts of violence against women are increasing. This year the Taliban shot a 14 year old girl in Pakistan for championing education for girls; another girl of the same age in Indonesia was humiliated in front of her school for being raped; and a 23 year old Indian student was gang raped, sparking a national and global outcry.

The advent of the Internet means that for the first time in history we bear witness to the lives of others who do not have the basic economic, social and political freedoms we take for granted. The global village has shrunk and there is a keen sense of the inequities that exist in society across age, class, race, religion, sexuality and disability. This is especially true of

the power imbalances between men and women which cut across all these categories.

Gender equality, political freedom and peace are inextricably linked. Gender equality is foundational to advance individual freedoms in all forms, economic, social, and political. Accordingly, it needs to be treated as a specific goal to advance democracy and to promote peace. To succeed gender inequalities must be addressed at all levels of society; in the home, in the community and at a national level. This includes both the visible and invisible displays of unequal power relations. It also includes those acts that men and women are not even aware of as being discriminatory because culture has deemed them to be natural or for the good of the wider society.

As my neighbourhood expands to include those migrants (women, men, youth and children) who have come from afar, I am conscious that the idea of peace will remain elusive until all citizens within a nation have the opportunity and ability to create lives that they value, free from discrimination and violence.

GENDER AND PEACE

by Paula Wyndow (Western Australia)

Paula Wyndow is a Senior Research Officer at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Western Australia and is a Board Member of ISHAR: a Multicultural Women's Health Centre. She has a background in community development, mental health rehabilitation and working with society's most marginalised groups. She has recently submitted her PhD thesis titled “A gendered approach to democratic development theory”.

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Last week, as I was skimming the weekly Medical San Frontiers (MSF – the Doctors without Borders) newsletter, tears filled my eyes as I read that two MSF colleagues were recently killed in Juba. These were South Sudanese drivers who were on duty and although the cause of the incident is still unknown, I could not stop thinking of the hard time their families must be going through and by the same token, the family of both expatriates and local staff who have had to endure similar tragedies in recent years. Whilst t h e r e i s a c o m m o n acknowledgement that Peace is necessary for communities to access health care, it is as important in its delivery.

In my experience, as a nurse working for the organisation in various countries around the world, when fear of threat against NGOs or foreigners arose because of political reasons, the first decision taken was often to reduce the medical and health activities offered to the population to minimise danger to staff including mobile clinics, or the technical support brought to a given facility because of the threat faced upon travelling to such health centres.

Such decisions are not without consequences however, as they directly impact on the quality of care the population, including the most vulnerable, is able to access. This may not be so trivial in the case of a patient seeking help to treat a simple chest infection but it is much

more so in the case of a pregnant woman having a difficult delivery who is unable to reach a health care facility because of road or hospital closure, and/or threat to her life because of her ethnic background.

In the context of countries such as Australia, we forget that health care staff do not always work within a peaceful environment as was reiterated to me whilst working in a

government hospital in Perth this weekend. If the intensity of violence is different, it is as important as health staff continue to be exposed to both verbal and physical threats which bring about apprehension in the profession, leading to stress leave or aggression related injury compensation. Rather, a harmonious relationship with the patients to both identify and respond to their

needs is more conducive to a holistic approach to health, promoting their recovery.

In order to facilitate this process, the campaign against violence towards staff in medical facilities has improved dramatically over the years: posters illustrating unacceptable behaviour towards hospital staff are visible across the various hospitals in Western Australia. Staff also complete annual

compulsory competencies on dealing with difficult patients which illustrate answers to questions such as 'how to recognise early signs of aggressive behaviour and appropriately deal with it' and 'who to call upon when a patient is getting out of hand' in order to manage the situation as amiably and quickly as possible. This is essential as there is a duty of care to both the patient and the health care professional.

In war torn countries or even in nations such as Australia, peace is a must for the safe delivery and accessibility to health care by all. To continue to strive towards this goal, both history and experience have shown that in order to improve this fundamental right,

multidisciplinary collaboration and dialogue are necessary. Whilst this may seem to be an idealistic concept, it starts with each one of us being responsible for our thoughts and actions.

As South Sudan's new government continues its road to peace, its women ministers continue to work for peace.

PEACE AND HEALTH CARE DELIVERY – REFLECTIONS OF A HEALTH PRACTITIONER

by Devi Lalloo (Western Australia)

Devi Lalloo grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium and Australia. Since graduating as a nurse in 2005 from Curtin University in Western Australia, she has been involved in diverse volunteer medical roles across the world with various organisations, the main one being Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders).

A clinic under the trees in South Sudan due to destruction of the clinic

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When Jaya asked me to write a few words on peace it got me thinking what a relative concept the term is. My well-worn Oxford dictionary defines peace as: freedom from, or cessation of, war or civil disorder; freedom from disturbance; tranquillity associated with mental or emotional calm. However the word conjures up such different realities for those of us lucky enough to live without the threat of violent conflict and disturbance and those whose lives are lived under its constant shadow.

I was lucky enough to have been raised in Tanzania, which though poor, is one of the few African countries to have escaped either the inter-ethnic conflict or the dictatorships seen elsewhere on the continent. That was followed by a period of studying and working in Britain and finally a move to Australia.

I have only once had a brief experience of being in a country in conflict when travelling and working in Zimbabwe during the period of unrest. Having never had any contact with guns, I can vividly recall the feeling of utter menace instilled by the Uzi submachine gun that I had to move out of the way to sit in the front seat of the car I had been offered a lift in. For me peace is associated with tranquillity and most of my personal moments of peace are associated with time spent 'in nature'-

such as Dadaab, where around 500,000 refugees live cheek by jowl under the constant threat of both internal and external violence.

It also brings to mind the experience of 'Peace' of a couple of the asylum seekers that I have recently met in Perth. On one hand, they have 'peace' in that their lives are no longer under daily threat either from bombs in Baghdad or from the Taliban in Kabul for being an educated, professional but recognisably Hazara female being held up as a role model by the government. On the other they certainly are not experiencing 'emotional or mental calm'. Like most asylum seekers the world over they have made the difficult decision to leave their home and often family members behind to try to find a safe haven for themselves and their family. Their days are filled with anxiety about whether they will be allowed to stay here and importantly whether they can bring also their family to safety.

Those of us who have the luxury of experiencing peace need to recognise its importance for the opportunity it gives to 're-energise'.

We need also to try and find some way, however tiny a step, to extend this privilege to those for whom such experiences are a faraway dream.

MY THOUGHTS ON PEACE

by Dr Patricia Faulkner (Western Australia)

Pat was born in Tanzania and trained as a dentist in Scotland. She worked in oral surgery and community dentistry in the UK, Africa and Perth, Western Australia. Pat now teaches in the area of public and international health.

camping in the bush, listening to the sounds of the night or the sea, sitting watching something on land, in the sky or underwater.

There are also those moments that I am sure many mothers have when all the children are in bed and the house is quiet or the quiet time you have feeding a new addition to the family while the rest of the house sleeps. For others such moments are associated with spiritual experiences and/or meditation and certainly sitting quietly in a beautiful cathedral instils a great sense of tranquillity.

How different then from the experience of those affected by the ever growing number of global conflicts since WW2 which have increasingly targeted civilians, often using sexual violence (perpetrated against both genders) as a weapon of war, resulting in the displacement of approximately 39 million people either within their own country or as refugees in another country.

It is impossible to envisage those affected by the ongoing violence in Syria, Egypt or Democratic Republic of Congo ever truly experiencing moments of tranquillity. They must constantly worry for themselves and their families about when the next attack will occur. Similarly one cannot imagine any moments of peace or tranquillity in a camp

PEACE AND HARMONY HAVE TO BE WORKED AT

by Dr Lakshmi Persaud (UK)

An accomplished and renowned writer, Dr Lakshmi Persaud's novels: Daughters of Empire, Butterfly in the Wind, Sastra, Raise the Lanterns High and For the love of my Name, explore gender, race, power and politics using drama, romance and humour.The University of the West Indies will be conferring the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters (DLITT) on her in October, 2013. More on her work is available @ www.lakshmipersaud.com

There is no peace and harmony amongst nations today. This is not surprising. Good human relationships amongst varying cultures are especially difficult to attain. Our efforts towards peace on earth, have been dwarfed by the enormous diligence and thought we have put into creating sophisticated tools of war as well as the multitude of goods and services a large metropolis such as London requires.

Let us have a look at our past in order to understand the scale and heights our thinking must reach before peace and harmony can become a reality amongst men. Homo Sapiens have been fighting wars throughout time. The weak have been pushed to inhospitable places like the tundra and deserts by strong, warlike tribes.

Ÿ The Native American Indians, the Aborigines of Australia and the Maoris of New Zealand did not receive peace and harmony after they were “discovered.” They lost their culture, themselves and their lands.

Ÿ There has been the Holocaust where millions of people: Jews, Gypsies, the mentally retarded, those with physical disabilities were murdered in gas chambers or experimented upon because of who they were.

Ÿ There has been the atomic bomb. Thousands of Japanese men, women and children were incinerated instantly in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The heat was so intense that in places there was not even cremation dust of a human on the site. What remained was a dark shadow where a human once stood.

Ÿ There has been Vietnam. It was an ill thought out, unduly prolonged war involving the chemical, Agent Orange.

Ÿ Syria is currently accused of using chemical warfare against its own people.

We are a warring species.

We have done a few good things: Modern medicines have found cures for a wide range of deadly diseases: polio, tuberculosis, smallpox, malaria, tetanus, diphtheria, yellow fever, typhoid fever, measles, and whooping cough. Transplantation of organs has saved lives and improved the quality of other lives.

We have created just laws, democratic governments and judiciary systems to bring fairness to our lives, enabling ordinary citizens to have some measure of control of their lives.

We tried to bring peace and harmony to nations by creating the United Nations. This beautiful concept did not please many strong

nations and the inevitable occurred—a denuded United Nations.

From where we are, we have a long way to go before there is peace and harmony on earth, good will to all men.

Bishop Tutu of South Africa, in his gentle, gracious way made an incredible break-through with his concept of reconciliation and forgiveness despite the bitterness caused by long established apartheid thinking. Before him, the Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Martin Luther King and Mandela's actions have together made substantial contributions to bringing peace and harmony amongst men.

India was able to gain its independence from one of the most powerful empires the world has ever known, not by taking up arms against it, but by another way of thinking, the concept of non-violent resistance – Satyagraha. These men did the impossible, considering our history, our warlike propensities, our preference to be known by our possessions, by the strength of or weapons and not by our integr i ty, compassion and humane understanding of others. There is however hope that with such men showing us the light, we may perceive the wisdom of living in peace and harmony amongst all men for all times before it is too late.

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Each year the Nobel Peace prize is offered to a man, woman or organisation that excels in the Peace Movement, Humanitarian work, Human Rights or Resolving Regional Conflicts.

We showcase the work of eight women from across the world who have won the Nobel Peace prize for the work that they did in their communities.

Leyman Gbowee from Liberia and Tawakkol Karman from Yemen along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work"

Leyman Gbowee

From 2002, Leyman Gbowee was recognized as the inspirational leader of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that started with local women praying and singing in a fish market. Leyman led thousands of women to gather and pray in defiance of orders from the tyrannical president, Charles Taylor. All of the women wore T-shirts that were white, signifying peace, and white hair scarves.

1) Leymah Gbowee (Liberia) & Tawakkol Karman (Yemen)

Taylor finally granted the women a hearing on April, 2003. With more than 2,000 women, Gbowee was chosen as a spokesperson, she spoke from the heart: “We are tired of war. We are tired of running. We are tired of our children being raped. We are now taking this stand, to secure the future of our children. Because we believe, as custodians of society, tomorrow our children will ask us, "Mama, what was your role during the crisis? We want the war to STOP, we want peace.”

In June 2003, Gbowee led a delegation of Liberian women to Ghana to put pressure on the warring factions during peace-talks. When the talks dragged on, and violence continued in Liberia, Gbowee led 200 women, inside the hotel, where they simply "dropped down, in front of the door to the meeting room. They held signs that said: "Butchers and murderers of the Liberian people -- STOP!”

Tawakkol Karman

Tawakkol Karman co-founded the human rights group Women Journalists without Chains (WJWC) with seven other female journalists in 2005, in order to promote human rights, freedom of opinion and expression, and democratic rights. Karman has received "threats” and was the target of harassment from the Yemeni authorities.

The group advocated freedom for SMS news services, tightly controlled by the government. In 2007, WJWC released a report that documented Yemeni abuses of press freedom since 2005. In 2009, she criticised the Ministry of Information for establishing trials that targeted journalists. From 2007 to 2010, Karman regularly led demonstrations and sit-ins in Tahrir Square, Sana'a, Yemen.

2) Professor Wangari Mathai (Kenya): Sustainable Development, Democracy and Peace

3) Shirin Ebadi (Iran)

Dr Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, the first female scholar from East Africa to obtain a doctorate and the first female professor in Kenya. Dr Maathai played an active part in the struggle for democracy in Kenya and belonged to the opposition to President Moi's regime and was imprisoned for speaking out.

In 1977, she started a grass-roots movement with women in Kenya called the 'Green Belt Movement' aimed at countering deforestation. The campaign encouraged women to plant trees in their local environments and to think ecologically. The Green Belt Movement spread to other African countries and contributed to the planting of over fifty million trees. Wangari's mobilisation of African women worked for sustainable development; included democracy, women's rights, and international solidarity. In the words of the Nobel Committee: "She thinks globally and acts locally."

Shirin Ebadi was the first female Nobel

WORU RO L DFO SRENNIW EZIRP ECAEP LEBON NEMOW

A Tribute - Honouring Women Peace Activists – compiled by Dr Jaya Earnest

@ Green belt movement

@vote4zahra.org

@http://www.ippf.org/news/nobel-peace-prize-winner-leads-ippf-debate

@blog.timesunion.com

@www.timesofummah.com

Peace Prize Laureate in 2003, from the Islamic world, Iran's first female judge and a human rights lawyer. After Khomeini's revolution in 1979, she was dismissed and opened a legal practice to defend people who were being persecuted by the authorities. She was imprisoned in 2000 for criticizing her country's political regime. She took up the struggle for fundamental human rights and especially the rights of women and children. She took part in the establishment of organizations that placed these issues on the agenda and wrote books proposing amendments to Iran's succession and divorce laws. She also wanted to withdraw political power from the clergy and advocated the separation of religion and state.

The Guatemalan Indian woman Rigoberta Menchú was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work for the rights of indigenous peoples and reconciliation between ethnic groups. Rigoberta grew up in a country marked by extreme violence. Several members of her own family were killed by the army. She fled to Mexico in the 1980s, where she came into contact with European groups working for human rights in Latin America. With time, Rigoberta began to favor peace and reconciliation and Norway served as the intermediary in negotiations between the gove rnmen t and t he gue r r i l l a organizations. A peace agreement was signed in 1996 and Rigoberta Menchú herself became a UN Ambassador for the world's indigenous peoples.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of the liberation movement leader Aung San. Following studies abroad, she returned home in 1988. From then on, she led the opposition to the military junta that had ruled Burma since 1962. She was one of the founders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and inspired by

4) Rigoberta Menchu (Gautemala)

5) Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma - Myanmar): non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights

Mahatma Gandhi, she opposed violence and called on the military leaders to hand over power to civilians. Her aim was to establish a democratic society.

In the election in 1990, the Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a clear victory, but the generals did not accept the election result and refused to release Suu Kyi from house arrest. As leader of the democratic oppos i t i on i n Myanmar/Burma, committed to non-violently resisting a brutal regime, she once walked fearlessly towards soldiers threatening to fire. "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it”. She was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1991, when under house arrest and her teenage sons accepted the award on her behalf.

At the age of twelve, an Albanian girl Agnes Bojaxhiu heard God's call to devote her life to Him. She became a nun and was sent to Calcutta in India to be a teacher. Her new name was Teresa. In India she received a second call from God: to help the poor while living among them.

She founded a new sisterhood, Missionaries of Charity that built homes for orphans, nursing homes for lepers and hospices for the terminally ill in Calcutta.

7) Mother Teresa (India - Albania): work among the poorest of the poor

Mother Teresa's organization is today engaged in aid work in most countries of the world. The modest nun became known all over the world, and was regarded as a spokesperson for the Vatican. In 2003, the Pope took the first step towards her canonization.

In August 1976, Mairead Corrigan's sister lost three children in a shooting incident in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Betty Williams, a housewife and secretary, witnessed the tragedy and decided to launch an appeal against the use of violence in the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Betty was joined by the children's aunt, Mairead Corrigan, and together they founded the peace organization the 'Community of Peace People'.

By setting up local community peace groups, they hoped to set a peace process in motion from below. Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams did not give up hope but have kept up their international peace work. For more than 30 years, Mairead has worked to communicate a simple message: non-violence is the only way to achieve a peaceful and just society.

8) Mairead Corrigan & Betty Williams (Northern Ireland): community peace

The content for the article has been compiled from @"The Nobel Peace Prize". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. W e b . 2 5 A u g 2 0 1 3 . <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/>

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@http://potosionline.com/2012/09/20/rigoberta-menchu-esta-en-bolivia-para-hablar-de-los-derechos-humanos/

http://acelebrationofwomen.org/2012/04/daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-tribute/

http://yesugarden.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/homage-to-mother-teresa-and-irena.html

@ http://praxis.leedsmet.ac.uk/bpg/nobel/page25.html/document_view

I offer you peace,I offer you love

I offer you friendshipI see your beautyI hear your need

I feel your feelingsMy wisdon flows from the highest source

I salute that source in you.Let us work for unity and love.