ROSA LUXEMBURG FOUNDATION BRUSSELS CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND PREVENTION IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST VIOLENCE AND WAR

Conference, Brussels, 24-25 November 2011
Venue: Committee of the Regions, Rue Belliard 99-101, Brussels Conference languages: English, French, German Organisation: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Brussels Contact: Tel. +32 (0) 2738 7663, Email: info@rosalux-europa.info

THE CONFERENCE --------------------------The Brussels office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation has carried out a two-year investigation project in which peace activists from Rwanda, Somalia, ex-Yugoslavia and the Middle East have reflected upon their experiences with the development of conflict, civil resistance and processes of reconstruction of peace. The results of these projects are to be presented to the knowledgeable public as the cornerstone for a concept of consciousness-raising and prevention in the struggle against violence and war on 24/25 November 2011 in Brussels. In the concluding debate, four essential questions are to be addressed: 1. How can the specific experience of women in conflict-prevention, civil resistance and reconciliation-processes be recognized as the main tool for the development of general concepts and strategies? 2. How can we reach a way to solve ethnic, religious and economic conflicts through compromises? 3. Shouldnt it be necessary to develop, in addition to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, a Conflict Watch Network to inform the international community and the public about changes in the prevailing narrative in the direction of violence. 4. Which projects must the EU initiate in order to build a civil policy structure of prevention?

CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND PREVENTION IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST VIOLENCE AND WAR CONFERENCE, 24-25 NOVEMBER 2011, VENUE: COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, BRUSSELS

THURSDAY, 24 NOV. 2011, 10.00-18.00

09.00 10.00 Registration

10:00 11:00 Panel 1: Introduction

Ms. Birgit Daiber, RLS Brussels Ms. Galia Golan, University Professor, Herzliya Interdisciplinary Centers Lauder School of Government, Israel Ms. Asha Hagi-Elmi, Save Somali Women and Children, Somalia Ms. Angela Liberatore, European Commission, DG Research

11.00 - 11.15 Coffee Break

11:15 13:00 Panel 2: Women's Contribution to Peace and Reconciliation, Conclusions of RLS-Working Group
Chair: Mr. Norbert Schepers, Advisory board member of Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Chairman of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Bremen. Ms. Birgit Daiber, RLS Brussels Ms. Yolande Mukagasana, Nyamirambo Point dAppui, Kigali, Rwanda Ms. Bosiljka Schedlich, Stiftung BERBRCKEN, and Sdosteuropa Kultur e.V., Berlin, Germany Ms. Shukria Dini, Independent Researcher, Consultant and Founder and Director of Somali Womens Studies Centre (SWSC), Nairobi/Kenya Ms. Lama Hourani, Heinrich Bll Foundation, Ramallah, Palestine Ms. Ghada Al-Jadba, UNRWA Gaza Ms. Molly Malekar, Director of Counseling Center for Women, Jerusalem, Israel

13.00 14.00 Lunch

14:00 15:30 Panel 3: Civil Resistance and Protection during Violent Conflicts
Chair: Ms. Shukria Dini, Independent Researcher, Consultant and Founder and Director of Somali Womens Studies Centre (SWSC), Nairobi/Kenya Ms. Ruchama Marton, Founder of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Alternative Noble Peace Price Ms. Sybille Fezer, medica mondiale

CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND PREVENTION IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST VIOLENCE AND WAR CONFERENCE, 24-25 NOVEMBER 2011, VENUE: COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, BRUSSELS

15:30 - 16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 18:00 Panel 4: Peace and Reconciliation

Chair: Molly Malekar, Director of Counseling Center for Women, Jerusalem, Israel Ms. Diana Francis, Chair of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support, Great Britain: Gender, needs and power, Ms. Betty Bigombe, State Minister for Water Resources in the Uganda Cabinet, Uganda's Woman of the Year 1993 for her efforts to end the violence Ms. Naomi Chazan, The New Israel Fund, Israel

FRIDAY, 25 NOV. 2011, 9.00-16.00 ------09:00 10:30 Panel 5: Characteristics of Contemporary International Wars and Militarization of Policies
Chair: Ms. Johanna Bussemer, Foreign Policy Advisor, Group THE LEFT/DIE LINKE, German Federal Parliament Mr. Erhard Crome, RLS Berlin Mr. Bernard Schmid, Journalist and Essayist, Legal Advisor of Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amiti entre les peoples (MRAP), Paris Ms. Selmin alkan, European Womens Lobby (EWL), Brussels: The civilmilitary approach in Afghanistan: where is the peace, security and justice for women and civil society?

10:30 - 10:45 Coffee Break

10:45 12:15 Panel 6: Conflict Prevention / Conflict Mediation

Chair: Molly Malekar, Director of Counseling Center for Women, Jerusalem, Israel Ms. Osnat Lubrani, UNDP Kosovo Mr. Helmut Scholz, MEP GUE/NGL (Die Linke): "A critical perspective on EU Foreign and Security Policy and the new developments in International Law, in particular the role of ICC and the UN-based Responsibility-to-Protect-Clause (RtoP)" Ms. Antonia Potter Prentice, Senior Associate to EPLO

CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING AND PREVENTION IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST VIOLENCE AND WAR CONFERENCE, 24-25 NOVEMBER 2011, VENUE: COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS, BRUSSELS

12:15 - 13:15 Lunch

13:15-14:45 Panel 7: International Cooperation of Women against Violence and War

Chair: Marlis Gensler, Researcher, RLS Brussels Ms. Karin Ulmer, Gender and Trade, APRODEV Ms. Karin Fogg, former EU Ambassador and IDEA Secretary-General, associate fellow Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies Ms. Simone Susskind, President of Actions in the Mediterranean, and International Womens Commission

14:45 - 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 16:00 Panel 8: Common Proposals for Sensibilisation and Prevention

Chair: Galia Golan, University Professor, Herzliya Interdisciplinary Centers Lauder School of Government, Israel Ms. Birgit Daiber, RLS Brussels Ms. Naomi Chazan, The New Israel Fund, Israel Ms. Diana Francis, Chair of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support, Great Britain