The Canadian International Council (CIC) National Capital Branch in collaboration with WPSN-C invite you to a virtual discussion on March 30.

A growing body of research makes the links between the security of women and the security of states. In fact, the very best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is not its level of wealth, its level of democracy, or its ethno-religious identity; the best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is how well its women are treated.

Canada’s second five-year National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security drew on both research like this and on core Canadian values of respect for human rights, equality and inclusion. Launched in November 2017, the plan is now more than halfway through its implementation period.

Where is progress being made, what’s changing, what are the challenges? How is Canada addressing these issues, what are we learning, and what are the priorities for the next few years?

To explore these questions, join the CIC National Capital Branch in collaboration with WPSN-C (Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada) on March 30 for a webinar discussion featuring: Colleen Duggan, Senior Strategist at the International Development Centre (IDRC), Wazhma Frogh, Peace & Conflict Practitioner & Mediator, Jacqueline O’Neill, Canada’s first Ambassador for Women, Peace, and Security, and Beth Woroniuk, the Policy Lead at the Equality Fund and chair of the Women, Peace and Security Network-Canada. Elizabeth Kingston, President of the CIC National Capital Branch, will introduce this session, which will be moderated by Zoe Dugal, Deputy Director of CANADEM.

Speaker Bios:

Colleen Duggan is a Senior Strategist at the International Development Research Centre, where she brings her expertise in human rights, justice and women’s empowerment in conflict affected settings to IDRC’s strategic directions. She is a past Program Leader of IDRC’s governance and justice program. Colleen has worked for more than 25 years in Canadian and international organizations in programming, planning, evaluation and policy development in the areas rule of law and gender equality. In addition to her years of service with IDRC, she worked for more than a decade with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (most recently as its Deputy Director of Management in Colombia) and with the United Nations Development Programme in Guatemala, El Salvador, and New York. She has published on issues of humanitarian response, gender and transitional justice, human rights evaluation, and peacebuilding. She holds a Master’s degree in international human rights and humanitarian law from the University of Essex (UK) and a graduate degree in international development and economic cooperation from the University of Ottawa (Canada).

Wazhma Frogh is a peacebuilding expert from Afghanistan with over 10 years of direct mediation and conflict resolution experience. The President of Afghanistan appointed her to the country’s High Peace Council to mediate the peace negotiations with the Taliban during 2017 and 2018. She along with other key mediators initiated the first National Dialogue in Afghanistan that contributed towards the historical three-day ceasefire by the Taliban. In 2012, she founded Women & Peace Studies Organization that advises the government negotiation team on the perspectives of communities and implements local community based peacebuilding initiatives in Afghanistan led by women. She has also carried out a number of dispute resolution practices resolving disputes around water, land and other resources between communities. She has been extensively trained in dialogue and mediation at the Uppsala Department of Peace and Conflict in Sweden, Folke Bennoditte Academy of Women Peacebuilders & Mediators, practiced along with the peacebuilders and mediators from the Philippines and Cambodia in Seam Reap, Cambodia and in Nepal. At the school of government at Harvard University she has focused on women’s engagement in mediation and peace making.

Jacqueline O’Neill is Canada’s first Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security. Appointed by the Prime Minister in June 2019, her primary role is to advise Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, and numerous other departments engaged in implementing Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. Previously, Ambassador O’Neill was President of The Institute for Inclusive Security, a US-based organization that increased the inclusion of women in peace negotiations and related processes, including the reform of police and military organizations. Over 13 years at Inclusive Security, she supported the creation of national strategies and policy frameworks for more than 30 countries, NATO, the OSCE, and the United Nations. She also worked directly with coalitions of women leaders in Colombia, South Sudan, Sudan, Pakistan, and beyond. Prior to that, Ambassador O’Neill worked at the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan and at Khartoum’s Ahfad University for Women. Along with former Lt. General Roméo Dallaire, she helped found the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative to eliminate the use of children during conflict. She was also a policy advisor to Canada’s Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific region. Most recently, Ambassador O’Neill was a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian International Council. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Alberta and a Master in Public Policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Beth Woroniuk is the Policy Lead at the Equality Fund. Her work includes advocating for more and better financing for women’s organizations and gender justice movements, and for effective feminist foreign policies. Beth also chairs the Women, Peace and Security Network-Canada. For more than 30 years, Beth has advised and worked with bilateral aid agencies, UN entities and NGOs, strengthening their work on gender equality and women’s rights in numerous contexts and countries (including 4 years in Nicaragua). She has a particular interest in fragile and conflict-affected states. Beth has developed analytical tools, supported policy development, designed training, provided technical support, and conducted evaluations. Beth has also carried out research, blogged, lobbied, testified before the Canadian Parliament, and led numerous initiatives on Women, Peace & Security. She has received a “Femmy” from the Ottawa International Women’s Day community and the Karen Takacs award from Cooperation Canada. Beth holds degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Saskatchewan.

Zoe Dugal is the Deputy Director at CANADEM, a position she has held since 2016, where she manages CANADEM’s programs in Ukraine, including Canadian personnel deployed to the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission and Canada’s bilateral election observation mission for the 2019 and 2020 elections in Ukraine. Prior to other positions she held at CANADEM from 2006-2007, she started her career in Sierra Leone for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2002 to 2004, an independent organization investigating violations of human rights committed during the conflict in that country. From 2004 to 2006 she worked on community disarmament for UNDP in Sierra Leone. She then worked as a Project Manager for the Pearson Peacekeeping Center from 2007 to 2011. In this position, she managed a capacity development project for police services in ten African countries to support them in their participation in UN and African Union peacekeeping operations, in collaboration with African multilateral organizations. From 2007 to 2011, Zoe was an Advisor for GIZ, the German development agency, in Kenya, where she worked with several government institutions, including the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. Zoe managed a project to build the capacity of the Afghan National Police in the area of children’s rights for the International Bureau for Children’s Rights in collaboration with UNICEF in 2015-2016. She holds a Master degree in Political Science from McGill University.

Elizabeth Kingston is the President of the CIC National Capital Branch. She had a career of 35 years with the Parliament of Canada as a Procedural Clerk and is now retired. She has held numerous positions including Clerk of the Standing Committees on Finance, Public Accounts, Aboriginal Affairs, Industry as well as the Special Joint Committee on the Meech Lake Accord. She has also served as Executive Secretary to the Canada – United States Inter-parliamentary Group, the Canada-China and Canada-Japan Parliamentary Associations, the Canada-United Kingdom Parliamentary Association and the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Elizabeth also served as Executive Secretary to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), which serves to strengthen the participation of women in politics, government and society. She served as both a short term and long term observer for the presidential, then parliamentary elections in Ukraine in the spring and summer of 2019 and recently returned from Guyana and Ukraine as an election observer for their elections in January and October 2020. Elizabeth holds a Master’s degree in French Literature and is presently working on a Master’s degree in Theology.

TO REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pXioCge8TjibSmR9tyP9sw

We would like to thank IDRC for its contribution to this event.