Women Peace and Security Conference in Washington DC, 5-9 June 2023

Between 5-9 June, Alice Copland and Cecily Bayliss attended the 5th Annual Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Focal Points Network Capital Level Meeting co-hosted by the U.S. Department of State, Romania, and UN Women. Forward Thinking was invited to attend by the US State Department Office for Global Women’s Issues. We were asked to bring women parliamentarians from the WPN and were joined by Dina Al Bashir (Member of the House of Representatives, Jordan), Saadia Djaffer (Member of the Council of the Nation, Algeria), Eva Lindh (Member of the Riksdag, Sweden) and Sinéad McLaughlin (Member of the Legislative Assembly, Northern Ireland).

The meeting opened with a dinner at US Capitol which was attended by the co-chair of the WPS Caucus, Congresswoman Lois Frankel. Sinéad shared remarks highlighting her perspectives from Northern Ireland. The group also had a private meeting with Professor John Esposito at Georgetown University. Dina and Eva shared their perspectives as parliamentarians during a panel discussion held in the US Department of State during the opening day of the conference.

On Wednesday, the group met with Orla Keane, Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington DC to discuss the work of the WPN and share insights from their individual contexts.

On Thursday, Alice spoke on a panel discussing Women Peace and Security. She shared insights from the WPN, highlighting the way in which the Network has been able to connect legislators across regional and cultural boundaries to facilitate positive change that contributes to our shared sustainable future.