The role of women in the resolution of the conflict on Nagorno Krabakh issue

On November 6, 2008, a discussion over the resolution of the conflict on Nagorno Karabakh issue was held in the Civil Society Institute. The members of the Women’s Resource Center from Yerevan and Shoushi participated in the discussion, along with other members of public organizations and students. Hasmig Tatiossian represented some data concerning the condition of the women during the postwar period. The two main formulated questions were the following: whether women can have any role during the wartime and what kind of role they have in the course of peace building. Also discussed was that although the women have less participation in the battle-field; the war becomes a central cause of various difficulties these women incur, they acquire which are quite different from those acquired by the men. It is also characteristic that the women take a series of important roles upon themselves: they help their husbands to try forget about the wartime difficulties and very often, they find themselves in a distressing situation. As a mother, the woman has a very essential role in the family and in child rearing. Some of the participants thought that in different nations the ways of child-up-bringing can be totally different and it is very important in the antagonism regulation issue. During the meeting, it became obvious that the women always try to find various ways of peace affirmation and it was very encouraging that the women witnessing many war troubles and severities haven’t lost their hope and strength and continue to promote the peace endorsement in every possible way.

The discussion was held within the frames of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation program with the cooperation of Women’s Resource Center.