Women From Around the World Talk Peace at KSG

To the spirited cheers of dozens of women peace-builders, a Kenyan woman sang yesterday at the Kennedy School of Government, “This is the field where my brother used to play, but today I’ll be playing here.”

That theme of empowering women and increasing their influence resounded throughout yesterday’s opening meeting of the fourth annual Women Waging Peace Colloquium.

The week-long program, organized by the Kennedy School’s Women and Public Policy Program, brings together women from various areas where there is conflict in an attempt to increase the influence women hold in campaigns for peace.

The 35 female participants who started arriving in Cambridge this weekend from their homes around the world have been involved in formal or informal peace processes, or may do so in the foreseeable future.

A vital part of the Colloquium involves facilitating dialogue between the women peace-builders and 140 public policy-makers. This Friday, an all-day roundtable discussion will occur between the women and the policy-makers.

In his greeting yesterday, Kennedy School Dean Joseph S. Nye hailed the program as one of the most interesting the school offers. The networking skills it teaches are crucial, he said, and the program’s participants are able to support each other long after the program’s end.

“We begin to think about the larger ways we can increase each others’ effectiveness through networking and support,” Nye said.

He added that it is less likely that people will turn to violence when they develop a sense of community, which is often increased through networks.

Nye encouraged the women to use horizontal learning, or to learn from the experiences of the other conference participants. He concluded by commenting on the bravery of the women, who have traveled to promote the role of women in the peace process.

“I’m enormously impressed by the bravery of women that come together and provide moral support for each other,” he said.

Among the countries represented are Afghanistan, Armenia, Burundi, Cambodia, Eritrea, Guatemala, Israel, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Sudan.

The delegates include Katrina Barr of Northern Ireland, assistant secretary of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, and Visaka Dharmadasa of Sri Lanka, chair of the Kandy Association of War-Affected Women.

This is Dahrmadasa’s second year participating in the Colloquium.

“This meeting gave me the courage to venture into fields that I wouldn’t have before. Finally my voice was heard,” she said.

Barr said she enjoyed a discussion with student researchers.

“We talked, not in a professional capacity but about our personal circumstances and really learned a great deal from each other,” she said.

Much of the Colloquium focuses on this kind of personal interaction.

“You should talk, listen, learn and soak up as much as you can from this place and from each other,” said Holly Taylor Sargent, senior associate dean of external affairs for the Kennedy School. Sargent has raised more than $2 million for the program.

In an address to the women, Sargent yesterday encouraged the women to take action—in keeping with the mission of the Colloquium.

“Shake the place up a little bit. You’ve joined a revolutionary fight here—it’s the same here as in any other country,” she said. “The number of women elected tomorrow will be woefully small—we have to keep hold of the ground that we have gained.”

Indeed, Sargent said the Kennedy School itself is a place where women need to extend their influence.

“There are lots of old songs about the sons of Harvard. We’re singing new ones,” she said.