In honor of May 24, International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament, the IFOR Women Peacemakers Program (WPP) will organize the seminar “Money for Women Peacemakers” on May 24, 2008, in the Hague, the Netherlands. The seminar will also be a celebration of the WPP’s 10th anniversary. It will be a unique event.

The seminar will explore the impact of investments in women activists on the establishment of sustainable peace and justice. It will consist of lectures and workshops.

An exciting international group of experts, including Asha Hagi of Somalia and Elisabeth Porter of Australia, and others will speak on women’s peace activism; the effects of financial support on peace work; and the opportunities and challenges of fundraising by women peacemakers.

A special guest will be Malalai Joya, activist and former member of the Parliament of Afghanistan. Joya main-tains that investments in civil society at large and women in particular are a better solution for her coun-try than foreign military missions.

The seminar ‘Money for Women Peacemakers’ will be a meeting among practitioners, policy makers and interested others on how investing in women peacemakers can further enhance international peace and security.

During the seminar participants will exchange strategies and expertise, and learn more about peacemaking, fund-raising and self sustainability. In addition, a set of impact measurement tools for women’s peace activism will be introduced and discussed. Several funders and donors will introduce themselves at a “funders’ market place”.
For more information, please visit www.ifor.org/WPP or email m.vanbeek@ifor.org