Women waging peace
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 says that “civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict,” and emphasizes “the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts.” On Tuesday at a packed John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), six female leaders discussed how they’re waging peace and promoting inclusiveness in their war-ravaged nations. Moderator Swanee Hunt, the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy and former U.S. ambassador to Austria, facilitated a compelling discussion of how peace is a core women’s issue and why women need roles in resolving national conflicts. Julia Duncan-Cassell, Liberia’s minister of gender and development, began by explaining how her African nation had suffered years of war and a series of failed peace agreements. Something finally changed, she said, when women got involved. After “the women of Liberia...