Looking back to the disappearance of her son, a Sri Lankan military officer who was reported Missing in Action, Visaka Dharmadasa talks about how it shaped her drive to work for peace in her country. She speaks on the role of women peacemakers in situations of conflict and what will happen if the world adopts women’s definition of security. Visaka Dharmadasa is the Chairwoman of the Association of War Affected Women and Founder of Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action in Sri Lanka.
This video is part of a series of 10 personal stories from women and men from around the world who work on gender-sensitive peacebuilding within their own communities. These stories are part of the joint action research project ‘Candid Voices from the Field: Obstacles to Delivering Transformative Change within the Women, Peace and Security Agenda’, coordinated by the Women Peacemakers Program (WPP), the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and Cordaid. The aim is to uncover the deep-rooted issues that hamper women’s participation in peace efforts. Those interviewed participated in a global consultation meeting for the project that took place in The Hague from June 30 to July 2, 2015. The publication of our findings will be launched on October 23, 2015 in New York, coinciding with the anniversary of UNSCR 1325.
Read more about the Global Consultation
Read more about the Action Research
Fatima Outaleb gives a moving account of her personal journey into the field of gender and peacebuilding. As a woman activist, she shows us a glimpse of the deep commitment she and others like her have shown in their work for peace and gender justice. She connects the personal to the political by linking her own experiences to the wider obstacles to the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
