EDDA – Center of Excellence at the University of Iceland, in collaboration with the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, will host an international conference entitled Addressing the Persistence of Gender Inequalities in Conflict Prevention and Peace Processes. The Conference will take place on 4-5 April 2014 at the University of Iceland, Askja building, room 132, and is open to all and free of charge. See Conference Programme.

The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was passed 14 years ago. While one of its pillars is the participation of women in conflict prevention and peace building, they have continued to be largely absent from such processes due to a lack of gender sensitive transitional justice mechanisms. The aim of this conference is to stimulate critical thinking in advance of the 2015 high-level review of progress on resolution 1325. The Conference will seek answers to the following questions: Why is it so difficult to get women to the peace table – and is that even the right question to ask? What are the lessons learnt from implementing UNSCR 1325 in the context of peacekeeping? What are the key challenges to implementing UNSCR 1325 in the defence and security sectors? How do we move beyond the current paradigm of war and peace negotiations?

The conference is open to all and free of charge but we kindly ask you to register by sending an email to Rakel Adolphsdóttir at rakela@hi.is

The conference is hosted by the EDDA – Center at the University of Iceland in collaboration with the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Embassy in Iceland, the United Nations University Gender Studies and Training Programme at the University of Iceland, the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Iceland, and the National Committee of UN Women in Iceland.