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Women have a vital role in ending threat of conflict, says AM

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  • Women have a vital role in ending threat of conflict, says AM

    WalesOnline, United Kingdom
    Jan 2 2009



    Women have a vital role in ending threat of conflict, says AM
    Jan 2 2009 by David Williamson, Western Mail

    WALES' deputy presiding officer Rosemary Butler believes lessons
    learned in Wales can help bring stability to one of the world's most
    volatile regions.

    The Newport West AM has visited Georgia ` the scene of fierce military
    confrontation last summer between the country's armed forces and
    Russian troops.

    Relations between neighbouring Armenia and Azerbaijan remain tense
    following the 1988-1994 conflict over the disputed region of
    Nagorno-Karabakh.

    Mrs Butler is convinced that strengthening the role of women in
    politics is an important step towards creating governments which are
    less confrontational and meet the basic needs of the population.

    Representatives from the three countries came together in the Georgian
    capital of Tbilisi as part of a British Council effort to build a
    network of politically active women across the region.

    She described the tactics Welsh parties had used to ensure the
    Assembly had one of the world's highest levels of female
    representation.

    Describing the impact of women on politics, she said: `You get a much
    more consensual government and you find things like social services
    really come to the fore.

    `I just really believe you have a different style of politics when
    women are elected.

    `I think in areas like Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, that's
    absolutely essential.'

    Mrs Butler believes women are more likely to vote when there are more
    female candidates standing.

    She said women at the conference were fascinated to learn how the
    Assembly's petition system allowed members of the public to force
    politicians to look at an issue.

    `They just found that absolutely mind-blowing,' she said.

    `I said it's hard work for the electorate; they don't just vote us in
    ` they have to be consulted on things.'

    The conference began with a tense atmosphere.

    She said: `The body language on the first day was very formal. We had
    the different national groups sitting in their different areas.'

    But that evening at a reception in the British embassy, the ice
    finally melted away when one of the women began playing the piano and
    singing began.

    `When they went home, they all piled into the one minibus.

    `The next day the conference was totally different,' she said.

    `It was relaxed. They were really interested in what everybody was
    saying.'

    She hopes that the region will not dissolve into the type of ethnic
    warfare which devastated the Balkans in the 1990s. A first step to
    improving stability is encouraging the women of the different
    countries to talk to one another.

    Mrs Butler said: `I think the more people can talk to their neighbours
    and the more they can understand each other, the more likely there is
    to be peace... It was a real privilege to go and experience how these
    women live and share what we have done.'

    Arguing that in a civilised society women must be represented in
    politics, she said: `Women are not better than men. We are just very
    different.'

    During the course of the conference, she talked about the achievements
    of women who have shaped British society, praising the contributions
    of the suffragettes and the anti-nuclear protestors at Greenham
    Common.

    Newport is twinned with Kutaisi, Georgia's second city. The
    friendships which have formed between people in each community made
    the violence of last summer more alarming.

    Mrs Butler said: `It's very worrying when people you know are in a
    conflict situation.'

    Describing the current tensions between Russian and Georgia ` focused
    on Russia's support for independence for the enclaves of South Ossetia
    and Abkhazia ` she said: `I think there is a huge amount of distrust;
    that's the issue. People just don't trust the Russians.

    `Hopefully there will be some sensible compromises and it won't happen
    again.'

    The experience of the conference has strengthened her appreciation of
    the Assembly.

    She said: `It's not until you go away and talk about it. It's really
    very different from Westminster, even ` it really makes you think
    we're doing well.'

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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