Series of events on feminist peace policy:
Disarmament, demilitarisation and genuine security

We are continuing the series of events on the topics of feminist peace policy, disarmament, demilitarisation and genuine security with three events in Bern on 7 and 8 September 2023.

At a public panel and workshop we will discuss with human rights activists how to deal with experiences of violence, forms of resistance and approaches to reconciliation. We are also launching the latest issue of our magazine "Feminists Connecting for Peace", which this year is dedicated to the theme of security.

The events will provide an opportunity for exchange with three feminist human rights activists from our network: Olena Zinenko (Ukraine), Olga Karatch (Belarus) and Nora Ahmetaj (Kosovo). On 7 September, Mô Bleeker, who has worked for decades in various capacities in conflict and post-conflict contexts on human rights, conflict transformation and mediation, among other topics, will also participate.

Registration: until 29 August 2023 to info@1000peacewomen.org. The experts will speak English (a whispered translation can be arranged)

• Roundtable «Feminist peacebuilding in areas of war and conflict» (mit KOFF swisspeace)

7 September 2023, 1pm – 3.30pm, Wyss Academy, Kochergasse 4, 3011 Bern

UPDATE: The Round Table will now take place in the Käfigturm of the Polit-Forum Bern, Marktgasse 67, 3011 Bern.

• Podium and launch of the magazine "Feminists Connecting for Peace"

7 September 2023, 7pm – 8.45pm, UniS, 022 A, Schanzeneckstr. 1, 3012 Bern

• Workshop "Feminist Peace Policy"

8 September 2023, 9am – 3pm, Stube at Progr, Speichergasse 4, 3011 Bern

Biographies

Nora Ahmetaj: Nora Ahmetaj, Kosovo, is trained in human rights and international relations. She completed her Master's degree in Peace and Conflict Transformation in Norway. She is an advocate for non-violent conflict resolution, specialising in dealing with the past, with a particular focus on sexual and gender-based violence and feminicide. She is the founder and director of the Centre for Research, Documentation and Publication in Pristina, which was established in 2010 out of a need to achieve transitional justice, reconciliation and the right to truth for victims and former opponents of the Kosovo conflict.  During the armed conflict she conducted investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity for the Centre for Humanitarian Law. She works for various international organisations, including UNDP, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Mô Bleeker: Mô Bleeker, anthropologist by training, has for the past several decades been working in different functions in conflict and post-conflict contexts on the issues of human rights, conflict transformation, mediation, prevention and dealing with the legacy of past atrocities. Until 2022, she occupied various roles for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), including as Special Envoy for Dealing with the Past and Prevention of Atrocities, Special Envoy for Peace in Colombia, Head of the Swiss delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Chair of GAAMAC, the prevention platform Global Alliance Against Mass Atrocity Crimes, and as Chair of the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission in Bangsamoro/the Philippines.

Olga Karatch: Olga Karatch, one of the most active Belarusian dissidents, is the founder and leader of the civil rights movement "Nash Dom" (Our House). The organisation supports citizens in court cases, including cases of repression, and offers help in writing appeals or organising petitions. It now coordinates more than 23 groups of volunteers in about 18 Belarusian cities. The aim is to change Belarusian society through non-violent action and to increase the influence of citizens on the decision-making processes of the government and institutions. With media work, its most important means of pressure, "Our House" brings rights violations and court decisions to the public's attention. Its office in Minsk has often been raided by the intelligence services. Olga lives in exile in Lithuania.

Olena Zinenko: Olena Zinenko is a Ukrainian cultural activist, media practitioner and researcher from Kharkiv. She currently lives in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. She is doing her doctorate at the Polish Jagiellonian University on the significance of discourses on public events in Ukrainian media. After graduating in philology, she worked for 10 years as an editor and journalist at local television, radio and newspapers. Since 2018, she has been a lecturer at the V. N. Karasin Kharkiv National University and the State Academy of Culture in Kharkiv, where she works with the Centre for Gender Culture and advises various NGOs on communication and media. Olena is the coordinator of our Ukraine programme that we launched with our partner organisation Kharkiv Regional Foundation Public Alternative in 2020.