Hosted by WISCOMP (Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace) in New Delhi, 21-22 February 2015, the PRIO project Making Women Count for Peace co-organised the Roundtable event Women and Peacebuilding: A Policy Dialogue. The Roundtable brought together Indian Members of Parliament and participants from the public service, academia, media, corporate and NGO sectors, with a view to open up spaces of dialogue on the impact of violence on women and men in areas of conflict. The aim of the event was to provide a platform for dialogue between policymakers and researchers from the field on:
- Bridging the gap between human security needs and the imperatives of law and order.
- Exploring the many ways in which women can be made active participants in the formal peace initiatives.
- Examining the challenges and possibilities of women's full participation in peace processes.
- Suggesting methodologies to enhance the effectiveness of women's presence in peace processes.
- Sensitizing policy establishments to put in place structures and procedures for effective implementation of these processes.
Drawing on the case studies of Northeast India and Nepal***,***Roundtable participants discussed lessons learnt from the field which might have wider impact on gender justice policies in India. Participants in the Roundtable were also encouraged to comment on a draft of a new PRIO policy brief on Women's empowerment in India: From participation to political agency.
