1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:07,680 Greetings from Oxford and from space. My name is Liz Carmichael, and it's my pleasure. 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:15,880 On behalf of all space to welcome you all to this, the 11th annual space conference. 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:30,090 We will be reflecting on 20 years of U.N. Security Council resolution 13, 25 of the year 2000 on women, peace and security. 4 00:00:30,090 --> 00:00:38,280 We have our largest ever conference audience today with over 290 registered. 5 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:48,780 Thank you for being present. And I particularly want to thank those who helped to create this conference and then to get it off online, 6 00:00:48,780 --> 00:00:56,640 especially Noelle, Tim, Jesse, Richard, Rachel, Marium and Federica. 7 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:04,570 And thanks to our speakers for all that preparation. We look forward to hearing from you. 8 00:01:04,570 --> 00:01:12,280 Ox Face is the Oxford Network of Peace Studies that exists to promote the study of peace, 9 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:20,140 peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace building in Oxford and far beyond. 10 00:01:20,140 --> 00:01:32,480 Over the past decade, the study of peace has come into its own in the Academy OKs peace looks to the establishment of posts and courses in Oxford. 11 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:42,740 If funds can be found, and we are sure there are people who would like to endow posts in peace in Oxford and we'd like to have your help in that, 12 00:01:42,740 --> 00:01:50,290 then we can have a professorial chair and other teaching and research posts. 13 00:01:50,290 --> 00:01:56,440 Please have a look at our YouTube video. Just launched. The details are on your conference invitation. 14 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:03,420 And on the space Web site, just Google oxtails and you should get the. 15 00:02:03,420 --> 00:02:13,590 Now, it's my great pleasure to introduce our first speaker who would have been giving this keynote at the preconference dinner. 16 00:02:13,590 --> 00:02:21,900 But the great thing is, Tiana, you now have a much bigger audience, far more than we could have fitted into the dining room. 17 00:02:21,900 --> 00:02:27,450 Tiziano Williams is the CEO of Business Plan for Peace. 18 00:02:27,450 --> 00:02:33,680 Tierno worked with U.N. DP for five years and has many years experience as a trainer, 19 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:46,850 facilitator and consultant on stability and governance in fragile states with a particular interest in Haiti, South Sudan and Papua New Guinea. 20 00:02:46,850 --> 00:02:54,180 A former actress to only believe strongly in the role of the arts and peacebuilding. 21 00:02:54,180 --> 00:02:59,880 She speaks on feminine peace, human security. 22 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:05,730 Hello, Deanna. Thank you very much. Good morning. 23 00:03:05,730 --> 00:03:10,290 I'm pleased to be part of this event. Thank you so much for inviting me to speak. 24 00:03:10,290 --> 00:03:19,470 I think this event of the really special occasion. It's from the fact that you've chosen to join today, 25 00:03:19,470 --> 00:03:26,800 I think gives us all an opportunity not only to give something to ourselves, but to give something to others. 26 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:36,750 And so my question to all of you who tuned in to join us is, what will you do with the information that you hear today? 27 00:03:36,750 --> 00:03:46,720 So I will spend a few minutes talking with you, highlighting the necessity for everybody of women's inclusion in conflict prevention, 28 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:51,420 peace making, peace keeping, peace building, humanitarian affairs, et cetera. 29 00:03:51,420 --> 00:04:02,130 My general journey towards finding sustainable peace. And I place the women peace and security agenda within a human security framework. 30 00:04:02,130 --> 00:04:09,160 And essentially I'll be setting us up for the speakers to come. 31 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:18,450 So here we are 20 years later following the U.N. Security Council resolution 13 twenty five. 32 00:04:18,450 --> 00:04:20,380 And over those 20 years, of course, 33 00:04:20,380 --> 00:04:32,200 there's been many other U.N. Security Council resolutions and other efforts that have helped formulate the women peace and security, your WPX agenda. 34 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:37,030 And it's changed the lives for so many women around the world. 35 00:04:37,030 --> 00:04:46,570 And we should acknowledge and celebrate that it enables the participation for so many people who previously 36 00:04:46,570 --> 00:04:53,530 couldn't or didn't know that they could participate in the dialogues to to build peace around the world. 37 00:04:53,530 --> 00:05:02,250 And it's helped women to realise that their priorities and their needs and their rights are of value. 38 00:05:02,250 --> 00:05:12,460 And it's also enabled the bridging of divides and the discussion of common problems together across genders. 39 00:05:12,460 --> 00:05:14,160 And it's done much more than that. 40 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:26,180 But the WPX agenda has also failed to have an impact on many too many women, even if they are now encouraged, enabled to participate. 41 00:05:26,180 --> 00:05:32,690 They still can't. And this is for many different reasons. It's complex, as we'll begin to explore today. 42 00:05:32,690 --> 00:05:36,380 It might be for far too many women around the world. 43 00:05:36,380 --> 00:05:46,970 It's because of physical insecurity. So many are caught up in violent conflict or they just continue to be intimidated, isolated, abused, 44 00:05:46,970 --> 00:05:53,600 somehow excluded or put to the side or ignored when it comes to the important 45 00:05:53,600 --> 00:06:02,330 discussions that formulate the peace that we gradually build around the world. 46 00:06:02,330 --> 00:06:12,300 So. Today. Who are we? We're predominantly a group of academics, activists, practitioners and policy makers. 47 00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:17,370 Most of us on this call live with a good degree of safety and security. 48 00:06:17,370 --> 00:06:24,660 What matters about today is the millions of women and girls who do not, in fact, let me change. 49 00:06:24,660 --> 00:06:29,940 That is not just the women and girls. It's the boys, men and people of all gender identities, 50 00:06:29,940 --> 00:06:38,990 because what each of us does as a result of today will have an effect on the next generation and beyond. 51 00:06:38,990 --> 00:06:43,070 And I'm particularly thinking of the young women. 52 00:06:43,070 --> 00:06:51,770 There's an increasing number of young women around the world that are choosing, consciously choosing to call themselves peacebuilders. 53 00:06:51,770 --> 00:06:56,630 And these young women are I'm so impressed of them. 54 00:06:56,630 --> 00:07:01,730 I'm so inspired by their story. If they are actively, you know, 55 00:07:01,730 --> 00:07:07,910 taking a huge risk for their own safety and security and actively developing initiatives 56 00:07:07,910 --> 00:07:12,800 in their communities and in their countries that are genuinely building peace. 57 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:17,060 And they are calling themselves peace builders. 58 00:07:17,060 --> 00:07:24,440 So perhaps today, as we listen, we can please hold these young women in our hearts. 59 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:35,030 But it's not just about women. This is about human security and women's involvement enables human security by human security. 60 00:07:35,030 --> 00:07:43,800 Women coming from a perspective of prioritising the safety and security of civilians. 61 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:49,280 It. It's now joining the discourse, the term feminine piece. 62 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:59,750 And while that might create a false or misleading perception and may lead to people feeling excluded, 63 00:07:59,750 --> 00:08:09,320 I think that term feminine piece is helpful because it calls on the qualities of feminine intelligence, 64 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:18,010 which underpins all of the work that business plans for peace. The organisation I work for works on. 65 00:08:18,010 --> 00:08:26,000 So feminine peace and those feminine qualities which are by no means exclusive to women. 66 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:34,400 Qualities of deep listening include liberty, interconnectedness, compassion, 67 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:39,200 regeneration, so that we're thinking about, you know, the seven generations to come. 68 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:47,270 And those qualities have to be brought to our efforts if we are if we stand a chance of reaching any kind of peace. 69 00:08:47,270 --> 00:08:55,980 So perhaps feminine peace and human security can be complementary to the way that we consider the WPX agenda. 70 00:08:55,980 --> 00:09:04,050 So I encourage us at least to engage today with a human security lens. 71 00:09:04,050 --> 00:09:10,910 And why do I say this? Because if we're genuine about our desire for peace, it's imperative, of course, 72 00:09:10,910 --> 00:09:15,250 that we know the full picture of what's causing violence in the first place. 73 00:09:15,250 --> 00:09:20,150 So it's about bringing the full story to our efforts to find peace. 74 00:09:20,150 --> 00:09:26,210 And, of course, that requires that women are part of the discussions and decisions. 75 00:09:26,210 --> 00:09:32,240 And, of course, that means that we need to consider and care about the plight of a young girl as 76 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:38,330 much as or arguably more than the career prospects of a middle aged political man. 77 00:09:38,330 --> 00:09:43,520 So this is perhaps obvious to many of us on this at this event today. 78 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:51,140 But the purpose is that we need to use our collective wisdom to keep finding ways to shift these and break these barriers, 79 00:09:51,140 --> 00:10:01,580 whether they're structural or cultural or otherwise, to these barriers to realising an inclusive way of being. 80 00:10:01,580 --> 00:10:05,750 And that's what I believe today offers. 81 00:10:05,750 --> 00:10:18,340 I want to share an experience that I have as a way of illustrating the importance and the possibility for including women more in peace building. 82 00:10:18,340 --> 00:10:28,190 In 2015, I was working in South Sudan. I was an international observer and the humanitarian advisor with the East African 83 00:10:28,190 --> 00:10:35,450 led monitoring and verification mechanism for the peace process in South Sudan. 84 00:10:35,450 --> 00:10:42,050 And I spent some time and then to watch for anyone who knows fast than them, they'll know it. 85 00:10:42,050 --> 00:10:47,900 But others, it's in the north of the country. And I went to spend some time with the team up there. 86 00:10:47,900 --> 00:10:54,020 And the team at the time were all male. East African military individuals. 87 00:10:54,020 --> 00:10:59,090 And so the fact that I was there, I made a particular effort to get to know some of the women, 88 00:10:59,090 --> 00:11:06,830 civilians who had been displaced and fled to a protection site managed by the United Nations. 89 00:11:06,830 --> 00:11:13,790 And if I spoke to these women, I realised they had really important experiences to share, 90 00:11:13,790 --> 00:11:19,010 and they agreed that they wanted to share their experience experiences with me. 91 00:11:19,010 --> 00:11:27,890 And so I carefully set up a meeting where I felt that they would not be at risk and that they would feel safe enough to talk. 92 00:11:27,890 --> 00:11:34,790 And so for me, that meant just the two women and myself. 93 00:11:34,790 --> 00:11:40,250 No men. And so therefore, no other members of the team. 94 00:11:40,250 --> 00:11:44,630 And if they were around why we were meeting that they should not wear their uniforms. 95 00:11:44,630 --> 00:11:49,160 We had uniforms and it was our discretion when we wore them. 96 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,320 So the day of the meeting arrived, seven women turned up. 97 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:58,760 It was a pleasant surprise. And they said that they wanted to meet our entire team. 98 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:06,050 So I gathered our team and we met and we had an introduction, a shared introduction. 99 00:12:06,050 --> 00:12:10,340 Unfortunately, everybody but one person on the team was wearing the uniform. 100 00:12:10,340 --> 00:12:20,870 And I highlight that because I think many will appreciate that if the African military men wearing uniform in South Sudan, 101 00:12:20,870 --> 00:12:31,580 while it was still finding its way out of its civil war, that men in uniform have a certain perspective or is perceived in a certain way. 102 00:12:31,580 --> 00:12:37,250 But nonetheless, the women were fine and we introduced ourselves. 103 00:12:37,250 --> 00:12:44,570 And then I asked my male colleagues to leave us so that the women felt able to have a deeper conversation with me. 104 00:12:44,570 --> 00:12:50,390 But one of the women said, no, let them stay. 105 00:12:50,390 --> 00:12:56,370 We need to be able to say what we have to say in front of them. 106 00:12:56,370 --> 00:13:04,180 And they did. And it was an extraordinary meeting. 107 00:13:04,180 --> 00:13:14,800 And what the women showed was an immense amount of courage, trust and openness and sharing what they shared. 108 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:23,170 And what my male colleagues showed was that the fact that they were brothers from the region and that they really, 109 00:13:23,170 --> 00:13:28,810 truly listened and there was a truly connected connexion that happens. 110 00:13:28,810 --> 00:13:33,230 That meeting changed how the team did its work. 111 00:13:33,230 --> 00:13:39,190 They changed their perspective and ultimately changed the reports that they wrote. 112 00:13:39,190 --> 00:13:43,660 And what that meant was that for the first time, 113 00:13:43,660 --> 00:13:49,750 we had the evidence to call the parties to the conflict to account for the alleged 114 00:13:49,750 --> 00:13:54,130 abuse and human rights violations that they inflicted on these and sadly, 115 00:13:54,130 --> 00:14:03,580 many other women. And that now forms part of the written record of South Sudan's civil war. 116 00:14:03,580 --> 00:14:10,870 That team ended up being the first team to have a woman full time join them, which is something that I'd been working on for a while. 117 00:14:10,870 --> 00:14:20,240 And of course, why is that important? Because it totally facilitated ongoing inclusive monitoring and reporting. 118 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:30,750 So that experience told me a lot. All I did was create space and then these women took that space and made it what they needed it to be. 119 00:14:30,750 --> 00:14:38,550 Now, I could have shared examples of women who I've worked with who were political actors or bring a particular economic expertise. 120 00:14:38,550 --> 00:14:48,040 But sadly, we can't even get past the fact that women are abused and abused and abused when they are in a conflict environment. 121 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:54,950 However, be assured that every woman brings her entirety when she participates. 122 00:14:54,950 --> 00:15:07,180 Her story for sure. We'll have all the vital elements that we consider when we're working on peace building for any aspect of developing peace. 123 00:15:07,180 --> 00:15:16,910 So she will bring the political, she'll bring the economic, the social, the technology, the legal, the environmental perspectives. 124 00:15:16,910 --> 00:15:22,370 So let's please get to the stage where we recognise that when a woman joins the conversation, 125 00:15:22,370 --> 00:15:33,660 she allows us the chance to bring a human security picture to what we're doing because she helps us fill that full, full picture. 126 00:15:33,660 --> 00:15:37,890 I mean, you know, when the inclusion is in a track, one negotiation table, 127 00:15:37,890 --> 00:15:42,660 for example, we know that the peace agreement reached will last considerably longer. 128 00:15:42,660 --> 00:15:50,240 We have that evidence now. So to us, it's maybe obvious that some. 129 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:54,500 What will we do with what we know? So I I'm going to start. 130 00:15:54,500 --> 00:16:01,220 But I invite you to engage in this event with an appreciation that there really is work to be done by all of us, 131 00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:05,270 for each of us can do something more than what we're currently doing. 132 00:16:05,270 --> 00:16:11,450 I urge you to make a commitment to take action as a result of what you learnt today that may be to up 133 00:16:11,450 --> 00:16:18,650 your game if you are an expert in WPX and maybe to study the issues more deeply if you're a student. 134 00:16:18,650 --> 00:16:26,330 For all of us can do something. We can be a leader in this simply by deciding to share what you learnt today with faith. 135 00:16:26,330 --> 00:16:28,160 Three other people, 136 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:38,290 because knowing that you will pass on key points to others will change how you listen and how you apply yourself throughout this event. 137 00:16:38,290 --> 00:16:42,520 So please sit up and be ready for what you're about to hear. 138 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:43,624 Thank you.