#TimetoAct on Sexual Violence in Conflict – “formidable force” of Soroptimists take a stand at Global Summit

Image: Speakers at the Soroptimist panel event (l-r) – Anne MacDonald and Lois Kamara (Project SIerra), SIGBI
President Margaret Oldroyd, SIE President Ulla Madsen, Judge Silvana Arbia, SI President Ann Garvie and SIGBI Past-President Pat Black

Soroptimists from the UK and beyond have been participating
this week in a global summit that aims to create irreversible momentum towards
ending the use of rape and sexual violence in conflict. The Global Summit to
End Sexual Violence in Conflict, co-chaired by William Hague, UK Foreign
Secretary, and Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, is the largest ever gathering dedicated to tackling this major issue.

As an official NGO delegate, SIGBI Federation Past-President
Pat Black has been attending the official summit events: discussions around
prevention and prosecution by UN Member States of sexual violence in conflict. “Experts
from around the world will be analysing and proposing, while Government
Ministers are expected to make public announcements about their commitment to
ending sexual violence in conflict”, she explains in one of her daily updates on the SIGBI
website. Yesterday, the UK Government launched an International Protocol on the documentation and investigation of sexual violence in conflict, which sets out basic standards of best practice on the documentation of sexual violence as a crime under International Law.

In addition to attending official events, Soroptimists have
been generating significant awareness via their information stand – which has
attracted some high-profile visitors, including UK Foreign Secretary William
Hague, who described Soroptimists as a “formidable force”, and Angelina Jolie,
who returned for a second time to the stand on Wednesday and spent 10 minutes
talking to Soroptimists Kate Moore and Janet Hodgson!

Angelina Jolie and William Hague visiting the Soroptimist information stand

On Tuesday, a Soroptimist
panel event on building a future for women and girls after conflict,
organised by SIGBI federation, shared the experience gained from Soroptimist
projects around the world.

Lois Kamara from Sierra Leone, who worked with war orphans
and girls during and after the 10-year civil war, spoke about Project SIerra: a
Family and a Future, a 4-year Soroptimist International partnership with Home
and Homes for Children and Help a Needy Child.

Many girls had been forcibly held by combatant forces, raped
and then rejected by their families, so ending up as single teenage mothers,
sex workers and street children. Until 2011, Lois co-ordinated Project SIerra, which
worked to strengthen families at risk of breakdown, helped young children
living on the streets return home and empowered vulnerable young mothers.

SI Europe’s 2013 Peace Prize winner Silvana Arbia also spoke
at SIGBI’s event. The Italian judge dedicated nearly a decade of her life to
re-establishing justice in Rwanda from with the United Nations International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). She
played a key role in making people’s stories heard and convicting those
responsible for atrocities like genocide, crimes against humanity, and using rape
as a weapon of war.

Lois Kamara and Silvana Arbia both gave interviews to the
media, along with other SIGBI representatives. Lois also took part in a “trial”
of UN Resolution 1325 chaired by Cherie Blair.

Lois Kamara interviewed by Sky News

“When giving her evidence in front of a huge audience Lois
thanks SI many times for the work they have done in Sierra Leone”, says Pat
Black. “She is very positive that UN Resolution 1325 has contributed to the
rebuilding of her country and that women have gained in confidence in their own
contributions as a result.”

Other speakers included SI President Ann Garvie, introducing
the Limbs
for Life project to provide prosthetic limbs to land mine victims and SI
Europe President Ulla Madsen.

Parallel Events in Geneva and New York

Elsewhere in the world, Soroptimist International’s UN Reps have
been taking part in parallel events associated with the summit, read more about these events in Geneva and New York on ending sexual violence in conflict