Former First Lady and President of the 31st December Women�s Movement, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, is in Cairo, Egypt, to participate in the African Dialogue Policy Forum on Women, Peace and Security, which opens on Tuesday.
The Forum is being held under the auspices of the Suzanne Mubarak Women�s International Peace Movement, an international policy think-tank
established by the Egyptian First Lady to promote women as partners in the defence and maintenance of peace and justice.
A statement issued in Accra on Monday quoted Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings as saying the conference was coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the AU Year of Peace, launch of the African Decade for Women and the International
Day of Ending Violence Against Women.
"That gives the Forum additional significance as it is an opportunity to do a proper review of the successes and failures of the process and look
forward to a more positive future," Nana Konadu said.
The statement said the Forum would take stock of what was happening in Africa in the area of peace, security and women�s protection.
It would also explore the root causes of conflicts in Africa as well as strategies, instruments and mechanisms used to mediate these conflicts.
Results and challenges related to women�s participation in and contribution to these processes would also be identified.
Leading speakers include Nana Konadu, Mrs Mubarak, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping and Mrs. Michelle Bachelet, United Nations
Under-Secretary-General for Women.