The role of women in making and building peace reflections from Timor-Leste.

• Author: Haq, Ameerah
• Position: Viewpoint essay

Last June in Suai, a small town in Timor-Leste, I held an open day with local women and men to mark the tenth anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security. This resolution recognizes the unique impact of conflict on women's lives and highlights their often overlooked contributions to reving and preventing conflict. It also calls on the international community to involve women fully in every aspect of our work for peace and security.

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The discussion at the meeting was lively. Women presented their achievements and shared their ideas on how the international community could better help them reach their goals. Topics ranged from community policing to cross-border reconciliation with communities in Indonesia to domestic violence. I was struck by the energy and diversity of the more than one hundred people who came to voice their concerns. Police officers, local government officials, and community leaders joined scores of ordinary women--mothers, wives, breadwinners, and heads of household.

My lasting impression of the women of Suai was that they were not demoralized by their past. On the contrary, they radiated energy and resourcefulness. Their stories and work helped me understand that if the United Nations were to make a lasting contribution to peace and stability in Timor-Leste on my watch, it would be by building on the initiative and resilience of these women and helping them become fully involved in determining the country's future.

Women's involvement in decision making is particularly important in Timor-Leste, where men and women are building the economic and social foundations of a stable society and resilient institutions, following a twenty-four-year struggle for independence which claimed the lives of 183,000 Timorese.

One of the women taking on this challenge is Madalena Bi Dau Soares, a former, long-serving fighter in the Timorese guerilla army. I met Madalena in her home in the Liquica district to which she had returned in 1999 to set up and run two kindergartens that she financed with her small veteran's pension. When asked why she did it, she gave a simple answer: "I wanted to achieve something good, leave a mark in the community. After fighting for independence, men found other things to do. I wanted the same for me."

Filomenao dos Reis is another independence fighter turned grassroots peace activist. She trains Timorese women in mediation, negotiation, and...