‘Cigar and whisky club’ The *role of women in peacemaking* was a hot topic at the women’s conference, which included a special side meeting on the topic.
A young Norwegian diplomat, Anne Melangen Havn, highlighted how little progress has been made globally in putting women at the peace table, saying *only 10% of peace negotiators are women*. Having worked on a number of peace processes, Havn recalled routinely encountering what she calls the “cigar and whisky club: it’s like a group of men, sitting in a group, discussing.” Women, she said, are *often excluded from peace talks*, and even when they are included, they are not let into the room for most sensitive discussions on ceasefires and security arrangements, on the grounds that women don’t have the experience, knowledge, and capacity. But these women, she said, had “much more political experience, technical experience than many of the men that were in the room.” Havn said the landmark U.N. Security Council <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZ3TfEElwb9vg3GBVlNvj5JoV56xOBal7YStPpbp7tkRuv5tRp2dSzNvbP37wQo_4L3xStHg=> Resolution 1325, which calls for expanding the role of women in the peace and security field, offers *a valuable blueprint for advancing women’s participation*. But in recent closed-door negotiations on a peacekeeping agreement with countries that contribute troops to U.N. peacekeeping missions, the U.S. delegation sought to remove language <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POiKRGbNY2OKC42jxnUn9zvqXkTWpMxh_gXjXesW1MaZvjiu5t6YPah5FTPQbMvP_Z46OX4AYPO7vuxWIFrEFDv_aUUbiRwkTdQSr1rFnQgtOPMZyFAbJFhLcpxxQxpAhHo6LXgHBiD5-N7GFMTB_cj8rlCagtWMo47LtILJ_T2cWDTLF2B9z0IKwQT31b4OICMwI1OcLpK8W2_nEIivR12_90KgGnpLynrsJi_tFkM9yBSkjmi1TWXXURlxiI21e6w==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZ3TfEI5k8vwl2WkoMSlTjGsxOswy32w5pTl1O4FAhXLEOmhUGIgN9KBqCvL7Q5JYSryjGCA=> reiterating support for that resolution. *Scoop:* Trump admin opposes UN commitment to broaden women’s peace role <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POiKRGbNY2OKC42jxnUn9zvqXkTWpMxh_gXjXesW1MaZvjiu5t6YPah5FTPQbMvP_Z46OX4AYPO7vuxWIFrEFDv_aUUbiRwkTdQSr1rFnQgtOPMZyFAbJFhLcpxxQxpAhHo6LXgHBiD5-N7GFMTB_cj8rlCagtWMo47LtILJ_T2cWDTLF2B9z0IKwQT31b4OICMwI1OcLpK8W2_nEIivR12_90KgGnpLynrsJi_tFkM9yszo4bR7gOHlIo-YM3GG90A==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGZZ3TfEI5k8vwl2WkoMSlTjGsxOswy32w5pTl1O4FAhXLEOmhUGIgN9KBqCvL7Q5JYSryjGCA=>
