Women’s Conference 2014
The Kashmir issue is the oldest, unresolved, international conflict in the world today. And women have not been particularly spared, of which they are just as much the victims as men. Yet the question of women in conflicts and as peacebuilders is a complex issue and women should not only be seen as victims but also as key actors promoting peace. Women play a major role in the conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding measures, and in post-conflict reconstruction.
“Women in Conflict: Kashmir through Women’s Eyes”, a high-level conference was particularly designed to shed light on the role and status of women in Jammu and Kashmir. The conference attracted a wide audience with attendance from several human rights NGOs, a representative from the Pakistani Embassy and MEPs. The event was hosted by Dr Sajjad Karim (MEP) and organized by the Kashmir Council-EU within the premises of the European Parliament. The conference was a step further as many of the guest speakers were influential women from Kashmir, such as Ms Marjan Lucas, a longstanding human rights activist, Ms Farzana Yaqoob, Minister of Social Affairs of Azad Kashmir and Ms Khaoula Siddiqi, who is the co-founder of the Student International League of Kashmir (SILK) in Canada.
The Conference programme ended with the preparation of a report which emphasizes the situation of Kashmiri women and the importance of women’s leadership that can lead to the kind of transformative change that would bring peace in the region. The full report is available on our official website or via the following link: Report – 8 April 2014