Posting from Local2Global Participant, Jan Corderman

Parallel Event: Increase success of MDG’s in violence affected countries with the use of unarmed civilian peacekeeping .
Sponsors: Nonviolent Peaceforce, Women Graduates-USA, International Federation of University Women. www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org (US office in Minneapolis MN)

Note: 90% of current war casualties are civilians, the majority of whom are women and children. 1.5 Billion people currently live in countries with repeated violence. Not one of these countries achieved a single Millennium Development Goal.

With these facts in mind, this group starts with the position that we must eliminate conflicts! The post 2015 goal is reduce the world’s military forces by 10 percent per year.

One panel member from Nonviolent Peaceforce shared his experiences in South Sudan where there are one million displaced people. 100 members of Peaceforce are stationed in 10 different locations in South Sudan. They give aid with “unarmed accompaniment”. They accompany women to the water spots, so they can safety gather water. They provide unarmed accompaniment to refugees traveling across the country. Their efforts include the direct protection of children, many of whom are traveling from their homes alone.

The panel member related their strategy to prevent rape in one village, where seventeen rapes were reported per month. Their strategy was to implement an early warning system, whereby women who noted the conditions where a rape could occur walked to someone with a cell phone, thereby discouraging the rapist. In addition they set up patrols in conjunction with UN peace-keepers (who are armed). They were able to reduce the reported rapes to zero per month.

The group stresses not just early warning systems, but also early response!

Their efforts also include “impartial investigation” of attacks by outsiders. They use this technique as a way to eliminate the “some other tribe did this, not us” and have been able to assess responsibility in an impartial way and cleared the way for people to be able to return to their villages and receive compensation.