Maguire Joins World Leaders to Discuss Security and Women’s Empowerment

March 7, 2008

On 6 March, Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire joined more than 50 female heads of state, ministers, heads of international organizations, business leaders and civil society activists in Brussels for “Women stabilizing an insecure world: An international conference for women political leaders.” At the conference Maguire delivered a statement focusing on achieving security and women’s empowerment through peace and nonviolence. She concluded, “With a passion for peace and absolute conviction that violence never works, nonviolence does, we can change the world.”

Women: Stabilizing an insecure world

Statement by Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate

Women as Peacemakers: A new governance?

My thanks to our host Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner. Women: stabilizing an insecure world is indeed a great challenge. Not only stabilizing the world but transforming it, is the task we face together as an interconnected, interdependent Human Family. One of the many threats is that of violence, whose roots we are aware of. Thankfully, violence, be it individual, structural, or cultural, has been described as a preventable disease’ by the World Health Organization. To cure it we need to transform our Culture of Violence to a Culture of Nonkilling, Nonviolence and Peace. Last year, the Nobel Peace Laureates launched a Charter for a world without violence’. This Charter sets out 13 principles which when implemented by World Bodies and Governments will help build this new culture. The 13th Principle of the Charter calls upon all to work together towards a just killing-free world in which everyone has a right not to be killed and a responsibility not to kill each other.

Women play a crucial role in this building of a nonkilling world. We can unambiguously reject the use of violence in all its forms, insisting violence is never acceptable and there are always alternatives. Disarming our own mindsets from violence, militarism, and war, and deepening our compassion, wisdom and inner peace enables us to be peacemakers in our home, communities, and world.

Women can bring a new spirit and vision by insisting people, not profit, should be put first and this will happen when we all move beyond nationalism, tribal politics, and our own narrow interests, putting our common humanity above all that divides us. Mothers can change the world by encouraging their children not to join Armies, but rather use alternative means to uphold Human rights and conflict resolution.

One of the causes of destabilization in our world, especially since 11 September, 2001, is the Foreign Policies of the American government. These policies of military invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the war on terrorism’ with its subsequent abuse of Human rights have only added to the fear and insecurity felt by many. This has been particularly destructive to the Muslim communities, who have been demonized and marginalized by such Policies. These policies must be reversed to help stabilize our world. There are steps to sanity: End the occupation of Afghanistan, and Iraq. Abolish Nuclear weapons. Israel should end the siege of Gaza and occupation of Palestine, and talk to its enemies. The American Administration should talk to Iranian leaders and solve their problems through dialogue and negotiations.

At a conference on women peacemakers, an activist and former Member of Parliament of Afghanistan maintained that investments in civil society at large and women in particular are a better solution for her country than foreign military missions. The words of this Afghani woman are words of wisdom and guidance as we together search for more civilized and successful ways of problem solving, than militarism, war and nuclear weapons. With a passion for peace and absolute conviction that violence never works, nonviolence does, we can change the world.