Astghik Injeyan (Yerevan) - This article was written at the occasion of a symposium called “Security & Stability in the 21st century: NATO after Lisbon & South Eastern Europe”, in the panel discussion « “Women and security in the 21st century ». This Annual Symposium, organised in conjunction with the Transatlantic Youth Forum for South Eastern Europe, was held on December 2010 in Athens, Greece. Every year, it brings together 150 delegates from political, military and economic field from the NATO, Partnership for Peace and Mediterranean Countries as well as representatives from NGOs and youth movements.
Do not look at us as victims, but treat us as guardians of peace and harmony…
Women suffered greatly during the wars; their children and husbands were killed, they were raped, tortured, left homeless and abandoned. But even in such circumstances women didn’t lose their hope and fought for their families, for people they didn’t know and for their nations.
Women played a key role during wartime
There is a monument in Yerevan, the city where I am living, called Mother Armenia, which represents a woman warrior with a sword in her hands, watching the city from the high point. Inside this huge monument there is a military museum: “Armenians in the World War II” and “Artsakh War in 1988-1994”. This monument symbolizes Armenian women protecting their children and values with arms on their hands while husbands and sons fighting for their families and homeland.
We are, arguably, a nation nurtured by women. The most touching last paragraph of Yegishe’s History of Vardan and the Armenian War [1] describes Armenia depletion of its men and soldiers, and the action of women in this tragic reality. “The bridal chambers of young girls became empty, [...] the widowed became again as virtuous brides, [...] and even the noble women of Armenia, who had been brought up in luxury and petted in costly clothing and on soft couches, went untiringly to the houses of prayer, on foot and bare-footed, asking with vows that they might be enabled to endure their great affliction“.
It was the principles and stories of our ancestress that the new generation of Armenian men was raised on. The Armenian mother, remaining pure and untainted at home, was charged with giving the future generation the gifts of our culture in order to protect them. Apparently, the lessons Armenian mothers taught their kids were not forgotten through the years.
Time passed and Armenian women saw lot of suffering. During the Artsakh war there were women who forgot everything and rushed to join their brothers in the border.
The story of our women has a paradoxical narrative. On the one hand, they have been subject to backwardness at best and violence at worst, and on the other hand, the monumental role they have played in our nation’s life has always been applauded.
Women need to be considered as key actors in peace-building
International organizations are slowly recognizing the indispensable role that women play in preventing war and sustaining peace. On October 31 2000, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 1325 urging the Secretary-General to expand the role of women in U.N. field-based operations, especially among military observers, civilian police, human rights workers and humanitarian personnel. It is important to mention that NATO and its Partners are taking concerted action to support implementation of UNSCR 1325 .
Women universally bear the burden of caring daily for their families and communities and they are the primate stakeholders with interest in community stability, so they play an important role in peace-building in an unofficial way. Some women are peace activists advocating for non-violence, others are mediators, educators or facilitators of capacity-building. Women often bridge divides across traditional ethnic, religious and cultural divisions, coming together on the shared concerns about the practicalities of life.
Women are also crucial for inclusive security, since they are often at the center of nongovernmental organizations, popular protests, electoral referendums, and other citizen-empowering movements whose influence has grown with the global spread of democracy.
Women are active in unofficial diplomacy (the so-called Track Two diplomacy), informal peace protests, community dialogue and promoting intercultural tolerance and in practical peace initiatives. However, they are absolutely deprived from participation in formal peace negotiations (Track one diplomacy). One of the key issues in Armenia and in the entire region that requires consistent effort by governments, civil societies and development partners, remains the involvement of women in conflict resolution and peace process. Many power-driven projects are initiated where women are actively involved. However, women remain alienated from the real decision making processes. These projects generate huge amounts of important ideas and results, which are diminishing, as they are not used and heard. That is why it is time to stream the results of Track Two into Track One diplomacy. Women can play a significant role as the agents for change in their societies in conflict for transformation, confidence building and reconciliation.
Bringing women to the peace table and including them in formal processes is a must. There is a strong need to increase the number of women at decision-making levels in national, regional and International institutions involved in preventing, managing and resolving conflicts.
Women’s voices should be heard in important decisions; they should be given the opportunity to use their experiences to help prevent future generations from suffering from the same issues.
They must be empowered, as they are growing our future and successor generations. The teach and understand the moral values within the home, in their communities and in society.
Women need to be secured, in order to give birth to and raise our future generation.
[1] Eghishe (AD 410 – 475) Armenian historian. He was the author of a history documenting the successful revolt of the Armenians in the 5th century against the rule and religion of the Sassanid Persians.
