Marilou McPhedran
UWinnipeg Professor Marilou McPhedran (Director of the Institute for international Women’s Rights at Global College) is in Washington this week as one of two invited experts representing civil society on the Canadian delegation, headed by Tony Anderson, of the Peace Operations and Fragile States Policy Division in Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD).
Students from Global College, with McPhedran’s leadership, contributed to the 2013 ‘report card’ on Canada’s National Action Plans to implement UN Security Council 1325 on ‘Women, Peace & Security’ (published annually by the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, of which she is a long-time research associate.)
Canada is one of eight country delegations for the launch by the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State, of the National Action Plan Academy at Georgetown University. Today they start a three day 3-day session to build curriculum to strengthen policies that incorporate women’s expertise and leadership to advance peace and security internationally.
“Security Council 1325 was adopted by the UN Security Council almost 15 years ago and a wide network of women peacebuilders have worked tirelessly to try to get the UN to make peace processes more inclusive,” expressed McPhedran. “When the UW community with more than 30 volunteers supported the UN’s training session on our campus of ‘blue beret’ women peacekeepers in September, we heard first-hand about how gender discrimination and exclusion impede peace in the world’s hot spots. I am honoured to be invited to participate in this collaboration because high level leadership and civil society working together – like we are seeing here in Washington this week – moves us to what Clinton calls the ‘Smart Power’ of inclusive security. “
