K-School Initiative Brings Female Leaders to East Coast

A group of international grass-roots leaders will explore the role of gender in conflict resolution as part of a recently launched joint initiative between the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Hunt Alternatives, a non-profit organization that seeks to foster democracy.

The six women--who have worked in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and the Balkans--will spend this month on the East Coast lecturing at universities and meeting with non-governmental organizations, government officials and policy makers.

"We know that women are taking a larger and larger role in peace negotiations," said Jane J. Mansbridge, who heads the Women and Public Policy program at the Kennedy School.

Mansbridge's program sponsors the Gender Research in Conflict Analysis and Resolution project, which is responsible for bringing the women to the United States.

"On the issue of Irish peace, many people think the role that women played was, at any rate, influential," said Mansbridge, who is also Adams professor of political leadership and democratic values at the Kennedy School. "The women themselves seem to think that being women had something to do with it."

Rina Amiri, the project coordinator, said she hopes the women, who have worked in conflict resolution in their home countries, will inspire students to get involved in the field.

"I see the drive, the passion these women have; for them committing to changing their environment is not a choice," Amiri said. "We need to synthesize women's voices in conflict resolution."

The visiting women said they are enthusiastic about the program.

"Being given this opportunity to express our point of view to students is a great advantage, especially since they are outside of the conflict," said Ayla Gurel, who will be lecturing on her work in Cyprus.

Gurel is a member of the grass-roots organization "The Cyprus Link," which aims to create a more active role for women in conflict resolution.

Gurel will be joined by Kate Economidou, who is working to improve relationships between the Greek, Turkish and Cypriot communities on Cyprus.

Other women in the program include Mirjana Dokmanovic and Mirhunisa Komarica, both of whom have worked to improve the quality of life in the Balkans.

Dokmanovic is the co-founder of the Board of Women's Studies and Creativity, which brings together women of different backgrounds and nationalities to work on programs promoting political, social and economic equality for women.

Komarica is the president of the Union of Refugees and Displaced Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which works to protect refugee rights. Komarica organized the first wartime high school in Sarajevo.

In Northern Ireland, May Blood is an information officer for the Early Years Project in the Shankill area of Belfast. With a sister organization in the Catholic Springfield area, the project fights for peace through education. Blood is also a founding member of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, a group that was involved in the talks that led to the Good Friday Accords last April.

The focus of Geraldine McAteer's work in West Belfast is the social, economic and environmental regeneration of the Upper Springfield region.

McAteer also helped organize a visit by the former president of the Republic of Ireland, Mary Robinson, to West Belfast in 1992. The visit was seen as a major breakthrough in the peace process.

Mansbridge said one of the goals of the program is "to understand the role of gender in conflict resolution, and to put women in touch with one another to help overcome the barriers they face."

"If there are some techniques that are particularly successful, we want both men and women to learn them," Mansbridge added.