WIIS Leadership Update

WIIS Executive Board News
WIIS is thrilled to announce that WIIS President Laura S.H. Holgate just joined the National Security Council to take up the new position of Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction. In September 2009, Ms. Holgate will step down as WIIS President. We thank her for her dedication and service in this role, and her leadership in guiding WIIS.

WIIS is delighted that Melanie Greenberg, President of the Cypress Fund for Peace and Security, and Linda Staheli, Senior Associate at the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation, will serve as temporary Co-Presidents of WIIS.

WIIS is also very grateful for the support and dedication of the Executive Board members whose term ended in 2009:

• Sheba Crocker, Chief of Staff for Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, U.S. Department of State
• Sue Ramanathan, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Tara Sonenshine, Vice President for Planning and Outreach, U.S. Institute of Peace
• Ruth Wedgwood, Director, International Law and Organization Program, SAIS Johns Hopkins University

During the last six months, WIIS welcomed six new Executive Board members:

• Janine Davidson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans, U.S. Department of Defense
• Lenora Peters Gant, Director of ODNI Office of the Intelligence Community Centers of Academic Excellence, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
• Mary Alice Hayward, Director, North American Strategy, AREVA, Inc.
• Dalia Mogahed, Senior Analyst and Executive Director at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies
• Tammy Schultz, Director of National Security and Joint Warfare and Associate Professor of Strategic Studies at the United States Marine Corps War College
• Meredith Woodruff, Vice-President for Special Programs at ABRAXAS Corporation

WIIS Women Honor Roll
In 2009, WIIS established a WIIS Women Honor Roll to include former members of the Executive Board and the previous Advisory Council, former Executive Directors, and other key supporters of WIIS to recognize and highlight service to the organization. The WIIS Board and staff deeply appreciates the long history of support and involvement of the Women Honor Roll Members.

Filed under: All, WIIS Leaders

New Networking Tool for WIIS Members

WIIS launched its new web-based social networking tool, allowing WIIS members to create, customize, and manage connections online. It offers a customizable platform, which includes individual webpages, blogs, forums, groups, events, photo andvideo posting, among other features.

WIIS members will be able to participate in the following ways:

* Add personal or professional information on “My Page”
* Post & contribute to discussion topics in the “Forum”
* Create and join “Groups”
* Respond to “Blog” entries
* Chapters & International Affiliate leaders can set up their own group page, providing a space for group members to interactvia forum and wall comments
* Post events of interest in the “Events” section
* Post pictures, videos, or audio files
* Chat online with other users who are currently logged into the site

The Ning network operates in conjunction with the current WIIS website and existing database, and adds an interactive component to the WIIS community. Your Ning account will be set up as a separate platform from our existing membership database.

To access the WIIS-Ning network, members need to set up an account which consists of creating a username and password and filling out personal details (e.g. geographic location, primary area of expertise, current job position, and employment affiliation). Members are still required to join WIIS, pay the membership fees, and fill out the expertise form.

To create your Ning profile and access the WIIS-Ning network, go to: http://wiisnetwork.ning.com/.

Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

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BluMail: Internet & Developing Countries

About BluMail:

BluMail provides global e-mail accounts, educational content, employment needs, entrepreneurship, networking, story / experience sharing, mentoring and volunteering opportunities to youth and others who are coming online in developing countries.

We provide “make-a-difference content” on activism, conflict resolution, education, entrepreneurship, environment, health, human rights, humanitarian relief, news from around the world, religious understanding, women’s empowerment, youth empowerment, and other areas that educate and inform, not just entertain.

Giving your opinion at What Do YOU Think? and “telling the story” by writing a short story about yourself or a long memoir about your life are also strong components of BluMail.

We also encourage local community involvement, volunteering, donations, and will soon have offer job posting and finding, product buying a selling, and mentoring opportunities.

Check them out at http://www.blumail.org/index.html

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Female Officer to lead Chad peacekeepers

Reported by The Press Association, May 14, 2009

The first ever woman appointed Deputy Commanding Officer in the Irish army will help lead the latest peace-keeping mission to Chad, it has been revealed.

Commandant Maureen O’Brien, from Galway, takes up the senior role in the 100th Infantry Battalion as it prepares to depart for overseas duty.

The 48-year-old University College Galway graduate, who now lives in Dublin, joined the Defence Forces in 1981.

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Women Peacekeepers

WIIS member Kristen Cordell, who just recently returned from MONUC in the DRC, blogs on how to advance women’s leadership in the United Nations. An exerpt:

In my opinion, political will can only be achieved through the equal representation of women both within NGOs and in the organizational and governmental structures themselves. Our political will (while strong at the outset) is broken when the issues are taken up by formal governance organizations- which are still universally dominated by men. Women in International Security, a Georgetown University-based networking and advocacy group for women within the security sector, recently released a report on the status of women working within DPKO, the Department of Peacekeeping at the UN. The report found that women had been systematically shut out of high-level positions within the agency, through a variety of formal and information barriers to their inclusion. This is an excellent example to illustrate my point. Policy on women and peacekeeping can only achieve so much political will, because it has no champions (or very few) within the actual political institution. Read the complete post here.

More by Kristen Cordell: Combating Gender Based Violence, a Key Role for US Peacekeepers?

Kristen Cordell is a former Analyst for the RAND Corporation in Washington DC, where she specialized in Gender and Nation Building. She recently worked as a consultant on Sexual Violence and Security Sector Reform for MONUC in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

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[Photos]: WIIS Election Day Happy Hour

A few photos from Tuesday’s Election Day Fundraiser/Happy Hour at Vinoteca Wine Bar in Washington, DC.

Thanks to everyone who attended and donated to WIIS!

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Margot Wallstrom calls for EU members to act on UN Resolution 1325

In the article “Take Action on Women’s Security,” Margot Wallstrom, the Vice President of the European Commission, focuses on greater representation of women in decision-making positions in national, regional, and international institutions.

She writes,

“I am disappointed to see that only seven European Union member states have adopted national action plans toward the implementation of resolution 1325. [...] …national action plans towards gender equality would prioritise women’s participation at the highest echelons of politics, making women not only visible, but also audible.”

Read the rest of her article in The Guardian UK here.

WIIS’ work to advance women’s leadership in decision-making roles is continuously developing. If you have not yet read our recently completed report on Women in UN Peace Operations, click here.

As we are now focusing on the U.S. federal sector during this critical election season, WIIS’ Plum Book project advocates for more women’s representation, particularly at the top-levels, in the executive departments in a new Obama or McCain-led administration. Help us spread the word and bring new voices to the table! Instructions and requirements to submit to the Plum Book are on our website.

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[Field Notes]: Asha Castleberry on Women in Peacekeeping

WIIS member Asha Castleberry participated in the 2008 Peacekeeping Operation North in Managua, Nicaragua, where she joined with military and civilian officials from 22 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean and several other international organizations, such as the United Nations, the Conference of Armed American States, Conference of Central America, and Global Vision. The purpose of the operation is to promote cooperation by training as a multinational force. During the operatiom, Asha Castleberry took part in many assignments in the public affairs sector.

“Working with in a multinational staff was one of the greatest experiences of my life because you have the opportunity to meet and learn from other military officials and non-governmental representatives from different country. This opportunity provided an amazing way of promoting international cooperation.”

Above all, Ms. Castleberry was very pleased to witness that the operation promoted gender equality day. Gender equality day stressed the importance of gender equality and its significance in peacekeeping. We should all take into account Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), which requires more women to be included in peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding activities.

Increasing female participation in peacekeeping operations is important because women contribute to the long-standing efforts of the United Nations in encouraging Member States and non-governmental organizations to provide more female peacekeepers.

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[Field Notes]: Andrea Walther Responds to UNAMID Ambush

by Andrea M. Walther, WIIS Summer Symposium 2008
Accra, Ghana

UNAMID Ambush
When we, in our western lives, watch the news we don’t always notice
the continuous bylines that flash across the bottom of the screen.
Should something like ‘peacekeepers ambushed in UN Mission to Darfur’
be noticed, it would probably generate a minimal reaction, if any.
The words ‘peacekeeping’ and ‘Darfur’ are immediately and
subconsciously associated with dangerous and risky work in an extreme
conflict environment—conditions that could lead to an increased threat
or harm to one’s wellbeing.

Seven UNAMID peacekeepers were killed in an ambush on Tuesday in
Darfur, and twenty two were injured. One was a Ghanian policeman.
Many of them are likely to have taken a UNAMID Pre-Deployment 101
course—the same course I am currently enrolled in this week at the
Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Center (KAIPTC) in
Accra, Ghana. This week’s UNAMID course contains policemen from
Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, El Salvador, and Bangladesh who are receiving
training on everything from the geography and political situation in
Sudan, risk of HIV/AIDS, off-road driving and yes, what to do if they
are ambushed. We were informed of the ambush when the entire 70+
participant course was summoned to observe a moment of silence.

Having spent the past four days in class, I have gotten to know a good
number of the participants. I find that the best way to meet someone
is at lunch. I always try to break the ice with a universal
conversation starter, food: “Is fu fu (a Ghanian dish) very different
from your country’s food?” Almost immediately the question comes up,
“How do you feel about deploying to Sudan next month?” The quick
answer is a smile, wink, and “Well, you’re coming too, right?” Duty
and commitment to work, force, country, and continent frame most of
the responses.

African contributions to peacekeeping missions have increased
eleven-fold since the early 1990s. Currently nine of the top twenty
troop contributing countries are African nations, and make up
approximately 30% of all field personnel. This increase in commitment
is the result of centers like KAIPTC, which is one of three
peacekeeping training centers of excellence in the ECOWAS sub-region,
and six total on the continent. As of May 31st, the joint AU-UN
hybrid mission (UNAMID) was composed of 9,563 total uniformed
personnel. Not only does this number fall far short of the almost
26,000 troops that are supposed to staff the mission, but the troops
and personnel currently suffer from a chronic lack of equipment as
well as cooperation from the Sudanese government.

After the announcement, the mood of the training class was more
serious than usual; as I looked around I saw a lot of solemn, yet
attentive faces. No jokes were being cracked. Instead, nervous
energy was being directed elsewhere. Throughout the day there was a
consistent shuffle of participants leaving the class to take a break
and huddle for a few minutes in front of the ‘daily news &
announcements’ board where stories about the incident have been being
posted. They worry that the same fate could befall them—their worst
fear. Never did they imagine over a decade ago—when the majority of
them began their police service—that they would one day face
international deployment to a war zone.

This morning as I got ready for work I turned the news on and took a
few moments to sit there and give the headlines my full attention.
The images of those officers’ earnest faces trying to respond to my
questions immediately came back to me…as well as their words ‘duty
and commitment to work, force, country and continent.’

Andrea M. Walther, WIIS Summer Symposium 2008 is currently completing her Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at The Fletcher School, in Boston, with a concentration in international security studies. She is interning this summer at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre in Accra, Ghana, where she is focusing on the shift in US security policy towards Africa in the post-9/11 ‘global war on terror’. She is working to assess the extent to which US policy imperatives overlap (or fail to overlap) with the security concerns of the peoples of Africa.

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[In the News]: Our Own Glass Ceilings

Ruth Marcus from the Washington Post writes on women’s political participation, and the new report “Why Are Women Still Not Running for Political Office” published by the Brookings Institution.

For Article: Our Own Glass Ceilings

Stay tuned for more on women’s advancement: WIIS will soon be launching its report Women in United Nations Peace Operations: Increasing Leadership Opportunities.

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