LatinaLista — Even the volcanic ash that is wreaking havoc across half the globe can’t shut down an international dialogue that is increasingly important in today’s world — gender justice.
Originally scheduled to start today, the International Gender Justice Dialogue begins Tuesday, April 20 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The conference will bring together gender experts, feminist legal theorists, peace mediators, legal practitioners, jurists, women’s rights advocates, policy makers, members of the media, activists, and others.
Their objective is to hold a strategic conversation on how to advance gender justice and strengthen accountability for gender- based crimes, especially among those situations in the world where rape and assaults on women are a part of the armed conflict.
Initially, the delegation of participants included leaders from current or recent armed conflict states including Sudan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Israel, Uganda and the Central African Republic as well as activists from countries with a history of coups and military dictatorships including Guatemala, Chile, Honduras, Fiji and Burma.
Yet, because of the problems of air travel with the volcanic ash, the members from Europe and Africa will be joining the conference virtually through a dedicated blog for the event, as well as, the conference’s video channel, Twitter and Facebook.
Yet, no matter how many people make it into Puerto Vallarta, everyone will leave knowing that they had a hand in devising a global agenda that will move the discussion and action forward in four critical areas: Justice and Jurisprudence, Peace Talks and Implementation, Preventing and Responding to Conflict, and Communicating Gender Justice.
With so violence escalating around the world, it makes sense to not only have a conference of this kind now but for it to be women who are spearheading such an event.
