Use this link if you’d like to download or read it.
KWO 6th Congress Statement 2013 Burmese Version
Category Archives: Burmese and Karen Language Updates and Materials
Karen Women’s Seminar results in new organization: Karen Women for Peace
Responding to Karen Women Participation as provided in UNSCR 1325
Date: 28th, November 2012
The first Karen Women Seminar was successfully held from 24th to 26th of November 2012. The meeting was attended by more than 40 Karen women who are working in a wide variety of fields including education, health, social work, emergency assistance, environment, human rights and women rights.
During the seminar, we discussed United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 regarding women participation in the peace process, and analyzed Karen women’s involvement in the current peace process. In addition, we planned future activities with the intention to encourage the continuation of women’s active participation in the ongoing peace process.
Thramu Paw Gay Khu, the General Secretary of Federation of Trade Unions – Kawthoolei said that “This is the first time Karen women from various geographic areas have come together to consult and discuss various issues related to women participation in the peace process. We have seen that many women are motivated to take a more active role in the leadership and decision making process. We also came to the unfortunate realization that most of our Karen women are still marginalized and their views are all too often being ignored. I felt this seminar provided a safe space for many women to share their difficult experiences and support each other so we all have more resilience to keep working of behalf of Karen women and our community.”
As a result of the seminar, a working group called “Karen Women for Peace” was established to enhance and improve cooperation among committed Karen women to constructively participate in the peace process. Moreover, an agreement was also made to organize another women’s seminar next year.
Contact- Nan Dah Eh Kler – +66 857269291
Karen People’s Forum Statement and Press Release Regarding the Peace Proces and Mega Development Projects
Use this link if you’d like to download or read it.
Karen People’s Forum Statement _Burmese_
Karen People’s Forum Statement (English)
Karen People’s Forum Statement (Karen)
KWO Magazine in Skaw Karen
KWO puts out a quarterly magazine in Skaw Karen which are distributed through out the 7 Karen refugee camps. Each magazine is passed between refugees being read by multiple people. It is just one way we seek to keep our community up to date and informed.
Use this link if you’d like to download or read our magazine:
KWO Celebrates the International Day of Peace and Honors Thramu Zipporah Sein
Karen Women Organization
21st September 2012
International Day of Peace
”Just saying peace is not enough, it needs all of us to take action”
Press here for Karen Women Organization International Day of Peace Statement 2012 Karen Version
Karen Women Organization celebrates the 2012 International Day of Peace with great hope. The UN declared that this International Day of Peace’s theme would be “Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future”. We celebrate the recent negotiations for ceasefires and peace in Burma. We hope this beginning will bring sustainable peace someday soon.
KWO in honoring the International Day of Peace, would like to honor a longstanding female leader, Naw Zipporah Sein, the General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) for her tireless efforts and leadership in the peace talks with the current Burmese Peace Team.
On behalf of KWO, Dah Eh Kler KWO Secretary, warmly welcomed the ongoing ceasefire talks between the Government of Burma and different ethnic groups. She said ” In our hearts, we deeply hope this will lead to political settlement and sustainable peace. We believe just saying peace is not enough, it needs all of us to take action.”
While we celebrate the ceasefires, our hearts also go out to the Kachin people who have been subjected to violence by the Burmese Army for almost a year. We know and understand the suffering of Kachin women and children, for we have experienced it in the past. We welcome the initiative of the Government of Burma for the recent talks. We also know that real peace takes more than a single leader or group. It requires all of us to work together as equals. It is only through the full engagement of all the people of Burma that we can reach this cherished goal.
As the Karen Women Organization we have called for more women in leadership roles in this peace process. General Secretary Zipporah Sein is one woman who has stepped forward as a leader. We hope that all parties to the various peace talks will act to include women in their delegations. Women have a vital role to play in building peace and unity alongside men. We all must work toward peace, never letting that goal out of our sight.
KWO, on the International Day of Peace would like call on the Burmese military to show that they want genuine peace by stopping all operations within ethnic areas especially within Kachin and Shan States. We also call on all parties to fully implement ceasefire agreements by signing codes of conduct and enforcement mechanisms. Finally we hope the coming year all ethnic groups and the Government will enter into political dialogue to establish a real democracy within a Burmese federal system with equality and dignity.
As we reach for real sustainable peace in Burma, we know it must include rights, democracy and dignity for all the people of Burma.
Contact:
1. Nan Dah Eh Kler – + 66 857269291
2. Naw Blooming Night Zan – + 66 885455746
Email: KWOCentral@gmail.com
Karen Women Organization International Day of Peace Statement 2012 Karen Version
Women’s League of Burma Calls for Greater Women’s Participation in Peace Process
Statement on Peace and Development in Burma
Statement on Peace and Development in Burma by 36 Community Groups (English Version)
Statement on Peace and Development in Burma (Burmese Version)
Statement for the 27th KWO Day on 5th April 2012
Karen Women Organisation Statement in Recognition of KWO Day
A Call for More Women in the Peace Process
On KWO day, a Call for More Women in the Peace Process Statement by KWO Karen Version 2012
KWO Day is the commemoration of our work and the work of all Karen women. Karen Women Organisation (KWO) has provided leadership and services to the Karen community, particularly women and children for decades. This year we welcome the recent progress toward peace in our homeland. We are not sure yet if we will be successful, but we believe it is a time for all Karen people to make every effort to bring peace to our people. We believe women’s participation in the peace process is essential for it to be successful, genuine and to benefit the whole of our community. The need for and value of women’s participation in Peace Processes is widely recognized in the world.
Karen women have suffered greatly, like all Karen people, in the conflict with the Burmese Dictatorship from human rights violations: forced labor, the destruction of our villages, and being forced to flee for safety far away from our land. Women have had to sacrifice their fathers, husbands, and children to this struggle for our rights. We have been left to support and raise our families alone. In addition women have suffered from countless acts of sexual violence and exploitation. We have worked to maintain our families in the midst of this conflict, struggled to feed them, care for our children, provide education, and to empower ourselves.
Karen women have been leaders in all areas of the Karen society: at home, in the community, in advocacy and social welfare support, and politically. Karen Women Organisation believes we have a vital role to play in the peace process because of our experience, our point of view, and our leadership. If a lasting peace is achieved in Burma, as we all hope, women’s perspective and participation is essential for building a strong Karen State and preserving our proud culture.
The important role that women can play in peace processes in the world has been recognized many times by the International Community. The UN has passed 5 separate Resolutions calling for increased participation of women: 2 resolutions specifically relate to the role of women in Peace Processes, and 3 resolutions relate to responses to sexual violence during war.
1. Resolution 1325 and Resolution 1889 states that women’s participation is essential in decision making in peace processes, early recovery, governance and in peace operations.
2. Resolutions 1820, 1888 and 1960 demand an end to sexual violence and to hold perpetrators accountable.
Despite these international agreements, women have been poorly represented in peace processes around the world. The United Nation’s own studies indicate, “women have represented fewer than 8 percent of participants and fewer than 3 percent of signatories, and no woman has ever been appointed chief or lead mediator in UN-sponsored peace talks. Such exclusion invariably leads to a failure to adequately address women’s concerns, such as sexual and gender-based violence, women’s rights and post-conflict accountability.”
As we celebrate KWO Day today, we call for a full commitment to women’s participation in every aspect of the welcome peace process. We stand ready to do everything we can to join with other Karen leaders in making peace and freedom a reality. We have been partners in the Karen people’s struggle for justice. We are fully prepared to be partners in negotiations for peace.
International Women’s Day 2012 – From Fear To Freedom
Karen Language Version KWO Statement for Int’l Women Day 2012
Date: 8th March 2012
“Women moving forward from Fear to Freedom”
The Karen Women Organization (KWO) welcomes another International Women’s Day. One of the themes for this year is “FROM FEAR TO FREEDOM”. On March 8th each year, women around the world reflect on our progress toward equality and freedom. We celebrate our victories and look at how far women still have to go. KWO has worked for many years to protect, support, defend and empower women who have been abused, by anyone from members of the Burmese military or their own husbands. These women have been taught to be afraid, to live each day with fear.
Worldwide, at least one third of all women are victims of violence. It is the most widespread human rights violation on earth. We see this every day, particularly in the 7 refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border where KWO runs safe houses for women who have been subjected to violence and need a safe harbor. 77% of the cases we handle are women who have been subjected to domestic violence, the other 23% are rapes or attempted rapes. Women will not be able to move from fear to freedom without a working system to achieve justice in the camps and for any cases referred outside of camps to the justice system in Thailand.
We believe the current system is failing women in our community. Community systems and structures need to be supported and strengthened in order to directly and effectively reduce the violence experienced by women in our community. Camp justice systems must be made more comprehensive and supported rather than undermined.
KWO Joint Secretary 2, Ta Mla Saw said today, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wrote a book called “Freedom from Fear” so we know that she too, as a woman, understands how important this idea is. Our aim in KWO is to help women who have suffered from violence, to transform their fear, and for it to grow into something stronger. freedom! Every woman understands this.”
Currently, the Burmese government says they want to work for peace in Burma and has started the peace process talks with different ethnic opposition groups. KWO has called for women’s participation in the peace process to ensure that this process reflects the voices of women who live this conflict. KWO reaffirms that only women’s participation in the peace process can stop fear and create freedom without fear for all women
As KWO has been involved in solving the problem of violence against women in the community, we believe that any solution must include an empowered, engaged, and educated community, especially women and women’s groups. “KWO believes that all refugees and particularly women should continue to say to everyone, “Nothing about us without us.” We need to be involved and engaged in order to gain our rights, equality and our freedom.” Stated Dah Eh Kler, Secretary
Right now the current system is teaching women that there is no safe place and no future. There is a lot of fear and not enough freedom. This International Women’s Day all of us should recommit ourselves to strengthening the justice systems available to abused women in refugee camps. We have to work together to win access to real justice and so women can find themselves successfully walking from fear to freedom.
Contact:
Nan Dah Eh Kler – +66 857269291
Naw Blooming Night Zan- +66 885455746
KWO Magazine in Karen
KWO puts out a quarterly magazine in Skaw Karen which are distributed through out the 7 Karen refugee camps. Each magazine is passed between refugees being read by multiple people. It is just one way we seek to keep our community up to date and informed.
Use this link if you’d like to download or read our magazine: Magazine Vol. 2 Issue 7
