http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2606452.ece
Nobel winners decry lack of women's rights in Middle East By David McKittrick, Ireland Correspondent Published: 02 June 2007 Individually they are impressive; together they are formidable. Six Nobel Peace laureates from around the world - all women - gathered in Dublin yesterday to take part in a major conference on the issue of female empowerment and the advancement of peace in the Middle East. The group, two of whom are Irish, represent six of the seven living female Nobel laureates. The seventh, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains imprisoned in Burma. Describing the conference, one of the six, Professor Jody Williams, said: "We looked at the violence against women resulting from the war in Iraq, which has its roots in the oil industry's lust for the reserves in the Middle East and the resulting interests at stake." Last year, the laureates established the Nobel Women's Initiative, which they described as a collective voice on issues of peace and women's rights. Its purpose is "to address and work to prevent the root causes of violence by spotlighting and promoting the efforts of women's rights activists, researchers and organisations working to advance peace, justice and equality". Those attending the conference included 80 women's rights activists from 30 different countries, as well as ex-political prisoners, founders of international rights organisations, disarmament experts, journalists and emerging activists. One of its stated aims was "deepening our understanding of how the private and public dynamics of violence against women, particularly in the Middle East, intersect and therefore how solutions must reflect a more integrated approach." The conference concluded that the root causes of violence were inequalities, including those of power, control of resources, racism, intolerance and the denial of rights for women. One of the laureates, Shirin Ebadi, noted: "It is our sadness that our sister laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has yet again had her detention extended. We look forward to a day when she can be amongst us." She added: "We discussed the role of the media in dismissing and sometimes trivialising the voices of women, saving our environment, equal access to resources of all types, equal access to justice, stopping the madness of the proliferation of weapons around the world that fuel the wars, killing us, our children and our husbands." Leading a movement against violence * JODY WILLIAMS, a professor, won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize along with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which she headed and which grew to encompass more than 1,000 separate organisations.Forbes magazine included her in its list of the world's 100 most powerful women. * BETTY WILLIAMS was co-leader of the Peace People with Mairead Corrigan, the two women sharing the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. As the Peace People went into decline she became estranged from Ms Corrigan. She has since been active in various international peace projects. * SHIRIN EBADI won the 2003 Peace Prize for promoting the rights of women and children in Iran. She became the country's first female judge in 1975 but retired after the Islamic revolution. Her Nobel citation said: "She has stood up as ... a courageous person who has never heeded threats to her safety." * MAIREAD CORRIGAN came to prominence in Belfast in 1976 when three of her sister's children were killed after troops killed an IRA militant whose car crashed into them. The incident led to the formation of the Peace People. It attracted widespread support but faded due to internal differences. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
